Community Voices

This is a project called (un)entitled. Unentitled is a feeling – a response to layers upon layers of difficulty and barriers placed before us. We are a group of community reporters who have all experienced homelessness. We are frequently told we are not entitled to support, not entitled to housing, not entitled to health care, not entitled to safety, not entitled to be ourselves. We face stigma as a routine element in our lives.

These are our stories.

Charlie, Nawshin and Miles tell how it feels to be and not to be heard in this Listen Up! animation

This report reflects on what Miles has done for Listen Up! and what they have gained from this.

Two years ago, an invitation to attend
Join Listen Up, and meet some new friends
Come along and share your thoughts
Stories, experience… all the warts

In addiction, I lived in continuous friction
Being homeless, each day I felt hopeless
The shell of my body, purpose – to simply get voddy
Spiritually empty, no dignity left
Purpose, values, decency bereft

From street, to hostel, the journey took place, three years later finally in my own space. My outlook got brighter, the new version of me… a Listen Up writer.

Two years in… where am I now
I’ve learned so much, bish bash bosh, even kapow💥
Writing stories from near and afar
Fears, emotions unleashed from the jar

Being a reporter gave me voice and reason to get at it
Some of the topics were tough and traumatic
Being supported was a license to be bold
Those horrors, situations previously untold

I grew like the others… my new sisters, my brothers
We’ve laughed and cried and even fought
Reflecting on moments from things I never got taught

My style has improved
From when it was crude
I’m more eloquent now… ‘how now brown cow’ 🐄

This last post, the one I’ll be sending
Sadly because this project is ending
The prose, the learns, the friendships I chose
They’re staying within me, where once I froze

I’m full of gratitude for the chance to share this.
The whole Groundswell family, I send you each a hug and a kiss.

My final hope… ‘what Listen Up hath joined together, let not man put asunder…’ (however…if you happen to be a deep pocketed visionary new funder… 🤭)

Groundswell created a Lived Experience Advisory Group for the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority (GLA). The Advisory Group provides a better understanding of what rough sleeping in London is like and what works to prevent or end it.

Members of the Advisory Group met over six months with GLA colleagues to help develop the Mayor’s new five-year Rough Sleeping Plan of Action. Launched in May 2025, the Plan reflects many of the group’s recommendations, including replacing current practices of ‘verifying’ people sleeping rough, and making new Ending Homelessness Hubs more accessible and effective at helping people not have to sleep rough in the first place. 

Groundswell will continue working with the Advisory Group and the GLA to provide further guidance and oversight. Our work will support the successful delivery of the Plan in its first year, and give the GLA a deeper understanding of working with and learning from people with lived experience of rough sleeping and homelessness.

During the first six months of the pandemic in 2020 we delivered a volunteer led project aiming to capture the experiences, concerns and feedback of people experiencing homelessness, with a particular focus on health and human rights. Findings were shared throughout the project to ensure that the feedback from people experiencing homelessness could rapidly inform local and national decision-making processes. The team: 

1. 1Conducted 93 telephone interviews with people experiencing homelessness 
2. Gathered 370 daily diaries from staff and volunteers working with people experiencing homelessness 
3. Worked with 13 mobile reporters affected by homelessness, who shared insights from their local communities 
4. Reviewed and archived key policy responses to the pandemic in relation to homelessness

“I knew that the only way to take on this challenge was to develop relationships with organisations fast, and that the involvement of people with lived experience and having ways to connect with people directly affected by homelessness was going to be essential to make sure that we were fully informed about the realities of being homeless during the pandemic. 

We have mobilised people to think about what they can do to make changes happen that will create more accessible, inclusive and trauma informed services that are available when and where people need them.” – Olivia Butterworth, former Head of Public Participation – Homelessness and Inclusion Health, NHS England and NHS Improvement.

“#HealthNow was one of the boldest and most extensive experiments this country has ever seen in harnessing lived experience participation.”

#HealthNow was a partnership between Groundswell, Crisis and Shelter – bringing a community of people with experience of homelessness together to tackle homeless health inequalities. It just happened to run throughout a worldwide pandemic, covid-19. 

Over four years, 635 people experiencing homelessness were supported to get the healthcare they needed through newly established Homeless Health Peer Advocacy (HHPA) services. Peer researchers interviewed over 300 people to better understand the barriers people faced to accessing healthcare when homeless in Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle. Innovative alliances were set up locally and nationally to ensure lived experience was at the heart of influencing system change.  

Volunteers were embedded into local staff teams at Crisis and Shelter– gave them a sense of purpose, meaning and belonging. This scaled up. That sense was even more profound for those who were part of the national #HealthNow community.

 “#HealthNow means a lot to me. It’s changed my world in a way, more confidence, I get to know different kinds of people from different backgrounds. It included me, like I wasn’t left out, so it means a lot to me. It means the world to me.” – #HealthNow volunteer

Volunteers found they could do things they’d never done before: they spoke at conferences; they taught; they shared not just personal stories about having been homeless, but informed, expert opinions with senior decision-makers. They learned to believe in themselves, and that self-belief inspired others, mobilised, and generated change.

A film created to improve the health of people affected by homelessness, through better understanding of their experiences.

This important film aims to create change through insights within the storyline of the main character, Clarissa.

Her story is one of trauma, the importance of trust, and how this impacts someone’s experiences of healthcare. It has been woven together from real experiences of people trying to access the healthcare system while facing homelessness in the UK.

CONTENT WARNING: Clarissa explores themes relating to childhood abuse, drug taking and drug dependency.

In October 2024, we brought together residents in temporary accommodation with Housing Options staff in Kensington & Chelsea to share experiences and become involved in our participatory policymaking project, using Legislative Theatre. 

We are pleased to share our final report, summarising the project process, our learnings and recommendations, and also highlighting what real change has occurred in the borough as a result, over the past six months. Read the full report here. 

The final proposals agreed at the event included: 

• Improved accessibility of the Temporary Accommodation Team for residents in need.  
• More staff resources to enhance the triage process and ensure better support at the first point of contact.  
• A review of bureaucratic barriers, including simplifying existing systems and forms.  
• Exploration of new recruitment practices that recognise and value lived experience. 

But has anything changed? 

Over the past six months, we have been pleased to hear the progress being made in the borough against the original proposals. 

Progress has included increased TA Team accessibility, increased staff resource to improve the triage process for residents requesting help, a review of existing systems and forms to reduce bureaucracy, and explorations of piloting recognising lived experience in recruitment.  

Kojo Sarpong, Director of Housing Needs, highlighted progress now made:  

“I am pleased the say all the recommendations derived from the legislative theatre, have been implemented by the Council.  

For example, we have implemented our Homelessness Prevention Hub, which has multi-disciplined officers responsible for providing housing advice and preventing homelessness. There has been an improvement in the quality of service delivered to residents at the various access points.  

And we have recently undergone a systems analysis of the service provided to residents and the volume of forms required to be completed. This all remains under review for development and next steps.  

We have received positive praise about the work and our willingness to open ourselves up to scrutiny with residents in this way.” 

We’re extremely pleased to see and hear about the progress being made. As Katy Rubin responded: “The key to a strong participatory democracy process is follow-through and transparency throughout the implementation stage, so it’s wonderful to see the concrete and positive progress made by Kensington and Chelsea and partners on the proposals.” 

To end the homelessness crisis, we called on the Prime Minister to:

1. Make sure people can afford rent so they don’t lose their homes
2. Don’t let people living on the streets lose vital help by ensuring ongoing funding for support for people experiencing homelessness
3. Involve people who have experienced homelessness in creating solutions to end homelessness

“As a person who has been homeless in the past, I know how difficult it is to get out of homelessness. The Prime Minister said it is people with the skin in the game who know what’s best for their community. So, listen to us.”

As politicians return to Westminster, projections upon the Houses of Parliament provide a stark reminder that ‘Homelessness is a Political Choice’ 

Amnesty and Groundswell have launched a new charter to ensure policymakers collaborate with individuals with lived experiences of homelessness 

Messages calling for health inequity to be recognised as a homelessness issue were also projected on Tower Bridge and the Angel of the North, in addition to asking for a ‘Home to be a Human Right’ 

Amnesty International UK and Groundswell, a homelessness charity, have launched a new nationwide charter today, ‘Ending Homelessness Together—Our Voice, Our Rights,’ to ensure policymakers hear the views and priorities of those with lived experience.  

Striking projections of the words of people who have experienced homelessness lit up the Houses of Parliament with a strong message to the Government: The existing homelessness crisis is the result of political choices, and it is now critical to make homelessness history and make home a human right. 

Amnesty and Groundswell are highlighting that people whose human rights are denied have a right to be heard on the issues that affect them, and their insights and understanding are essential to addressing those issues effectively. The charter is anchored in human rights law and principles.  

The charter was developed in partnership with those with lived experience of homelessness who state: ‘We are asking the new Government to hear our voice and the voices of all those who have personal experience of homelessness.  We want you to recognise that we are people who have rights, and together, our rights must be upheld.’ 

One of the projections on the Angel of the North echoed this appeal: ‘ Listen to us to help end homelessness together.’ 

The charter sets out four key priorities for the UK Government: 

• Homelessness is not only a housing issue but also a health issue. Homelessness must be tackled to address health inequalities. Health services must follow the NICE Guidelines to make sure they are accessible to people experiencing homelessness and targeted mental health, and recovery services are needed.  
• Better financial support: Renting must be made affordable, and benefit levels must be sufficient to meet basic needs and regularly reviewed against the real cost of living. 
• Better housing is needed: more social housing, better commissioning and quality standards for homes, and better regulation of supported and temporary accommodation for all (including people seeking asylum). The Government should also introduce regulations for private landlords to ensure that maintenance is carried out, rent remains affordable, and discrimination in access to tenancies is prevented. The right to housing must be recognised in legislation.  
• The Government must ensure that all policy decisions on homelessness are informed and created by people who have lived through it.  

One of the individuals who supported the development of the charter, Tony, had his video appeal projected on to the Houses of Parliament detailing the steps the Government can take to end homelessness. 

“As a person who has been homeless in the past, I know how difficult it is to get out of homelessness. The Prime Minister said it is people with the skin in the game who know what’s best for their community. So, listen to us.” 

-Tony, steering group member

“Together with Groundswell, Amnesty have delivered the demands from people who have lived experience of homelessness across England to the home of democracy to make their pleas for change impossible to ignore. 

“With an unprecedented homelessness crisis, and winter looming, the return to parliament can’t come soon enough for people experiencing homelessness. Policymakers can’t fob them off with promised long term building projects and must act swiftly to protect the everyday human rights like the right to housing, health and social security for people who have no place to call home.”

-Jen Clark – Economic Social and Cultural Rights Lead, Amnesty International UK

“We at Groundswell know that solutions to society’s issues must be informed by the voices and personal experience of people who have lived them. The country is in the midst of a major homelessness crisis, and to address it, our new Government needs to hear and act upon the voices and experiences of people affected by homelessness. 

“We are proud to work with Amnesty to launch this charter to inform our new Government’s priorities. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Government to discuss our priorities and work on solutions to ending homelessness together.” 

-Michael Chandler, CEO, Groundswell