15 October 2008
Every homeless person has a story to tell and now 40 such tales are to be collected and published by London’s leading homelessness charity St Mungo’s with the help of a £35,500 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
The 18-month project will cover a range of themes including friendship, reasons for moving to the capital, survival skills and how social policies appear to have changed over the past 30 years.
Homeless men and women, some of whom will have been homeless for many years, will volunteer to share their stories and reminiscences. The aims of the project are to help raise the self-esteem of those taking part but also to raise awareness generally about the issues surrounding homelessness.
A selection of the stories collected will be posted on St Mungo’s website and a thousand booklets will be published for distribution to London schools. A free exhibition with stories and photographs of the homeless people will tour St Mungo’s hostels, local libraries and schools. All the material collected will be archived with Southwark Libraries.
St Mungo’s will train up volunteers to record the interviews and it is hoped that the resulting material will assist not only other organisations that work with homeless people, but also support students learning about the history and sociology of London. Social work students will also benefit from information on the psychology of rough sleepers.
Andy Shields St Mungo’s Director of Work and Learning said: “Many homeless men and women will have experienced significant trauma in their lives and we work hard to support their recovery. We hope that by telling their stories homeless men and women will have the opportunity to promote informed understanding of homelessness whilst going some way towards helping their own recovery.”
Commenting for the HLF, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London Sue Bowers said: “This project will help document the experiences of a group of people excluded from society. It will help to chart changing social policy attitudes over 30 years and should prove of value to those working now and in the future with homeless people.”
Notes to Editors:
- St Mungo’s is London’s largest charity for homeless people. We work 365 days a year to provide emergency help, and run over 100 projects and services that house and support homeless people’s recovery and prevent rough sleeping. Every year we help thousands of people to make permanent life changes. www.mungos.org
- Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported more than 26,000 projects, allocating over £4billion across the UK, with over £840 million has granted in London alone. Website: www.hlf.org.uk.