We have a history of working with St Petroc’s Society for the Homeless in using the arts and creativity to raise awareness of homelessness in Cornwall. Most recently, our powerful ‘No-one should be homeless at Christmas’ photographic exhibition recorded aspects of Christmas from the perspective of homeless people.
This winter we wanted to take things one step further and launch a county wide campaign about homelessness. We asked second year graphics students at University College Falmouth to help us to find ways of communicating this important issue. Student Lee Burnett’s eyecatching designs were chosen to form the basis for our campaign, and working with Two Design, Lee developed a campaign which focuses on individuals and their experiences, and the ways in which becoming homeless can invalidate those experiences and begin the process of silencing the social injustice of homelessness.
Lee’s work goes beyond stereotypes of homeless people and instead encourages us all to consider the stories and rights of individual human beings and think about how we can address this injustice. The campaign was launched on Friday 10th December at Truro Methodist Church.
We are committed to continuing to work with St Petroc’s to improve the quality of life for people who find themselves homeless and to find creative ways of stimulating debate on the causes, effects and solutions of homelessness in our society.