Depression Amongst The Jobless
Adibah Iqbal discusses the dirty secret about unemployment...
Why Does A Young Person Become Homeless?
We teamed up with young people from 1625 Independent People to make a documentary on why young people become homeless…
52% of those seeking help with homelessness are under 25
We worked with young people from 1625 Independent People to try and explore the issues that result in homelessness. They can be anything from mental health issues to debt to less of employment to drug/alcohol addiction to family breakdown.
We interviewed people on the street about why they think people become homeless, and spoke to young people who have experienced homelessness about how they actually became homeless. We also went down to the Wild Goose to interview people who had been homeless for a while to find out how it happened.
Here’s the video:
1625 Independent People does a multitude of things:
‘Housing is just the tip of the iceberg of what we do. We run 13 specialist projects and services to help young people in different ways.’ – Nicole Stapley, 1625 Independent People
We interviewed Nicole Stapley from 1625 Independent People about what the organisation does.
What is your role?
I am the project coordinator for the Upfront Peer Education project at 1625 Independent People; I work closely with young people who are currently, or have been, homeless and have used our services.
What is hidden homeless?
The official statistics around homelessness are based on those who are presenting to the council as in need of housing; however, the vast majority of homeless people exist out of sight in bed and breakfasts, squats, on the floors or sofas of friends and family, as well as sleeping rough. This means that they are not included in those statistics and that they may not be receiving the help and support that is available as they aren’t accessing services.
What are the five key contributing factors to becoming homeless?
When running peer education sessions, we focus on five main themes: crime, debt, family breakdown, mental health and drugs and alcohol. A big part of the work we do is helping people to see how these five themes feed into each other and can contribute towards creating a cycle of homelessness.
What support systems are in place for homeless people under the age of 25?
As an organisation we offer support in the following ways:
Prevention: Mediation, Specialist Youth Homelessness prevention workers, Education in schools
Crisis: Crash pad accommodation, Drop-in advice, Emergency accommodation, followed by a range of supported housing options.
Longer term:
Floating support – support in the young person’s home for resettlement or to stop them losing accommodation
Cashpoint – financial confidence work to help young people manage their money and the risks associated with being in debt including homelessness
We also provide specialist support for care leavers, young offenders and those with mental health problems.
We help young people to reboot their lives and give them the skills and confidence to live independently.
Apart from 1625ip, what kind of support systems are in place for people under 25 who may either be street homeless or hidden homeless?
We work closely with a number of partners in the voluntary and public sector to ensure that the young people we support are aware of and able to access the services available to them. These include colleges and training providers, mental health services, substance misuse services and Youth Offending Teams. In terms of housing support, Nightstop (run by Caring in Bristol) offer short term emergency accommodation in family homes. Other than that, young people can access advice services such as Shelter, ACFA or CAB, or accommodation provided by generic homelessness services.
How have the young people from 1625ip benefitted from the partnership project?
I think the project has been a great way of building confidence for the young people involved, it has been wonderful to see them develop new skills and to share their ideas so freely with each other about what the focus of the film should be.
1625 Independent People
Bristol Homeless Mediation Service
Would you give change to somebody homeless on the street? We want to know your stance so let us know via Twitter or Facebook…
You may also be interested in
Six Ways to Become an Actual Angel this Christmas
Christmas is definitely a time for giving, but it's not all about Furbies and PS4s under the Christmas tree.
Why Is It Important To Be Resilient?
Emma (aged 22, MSc student at the University of Bristol) and Habon (aged 18, currently studying for her A levels) are both...
About the author
Jack Edwards
Since getting my first camera capable of video at 13, I have been making fun videos mostly about life and sports. Eventually I decided that I wanted to pursue filmmaking as a career and began taking my films and video much more seriously. I took on photography, media and film studies at college and used those A level’s to get myself into Falmouth University to study Film. I began creating videos and trying to market myself as a freelance filmmaker. I had some successes with small-scale product advertisements for online use such as the ‘Beach Buddy App’ which featured in the Ignite Cornwall Business Start Up Competition. I found a lot of enjoyment from creating event videos, which eventually developed into a good earner for myself and gave me some fantastic jobs filming in London for ‘Drum & Bass Arena’s 2013 Album Launch Party and ‘This is Dubstep’’s Action On Hearing Loss Fundraiser. I created a Facebook group called ‘Anamorphic Shooters’ which I have no been administrating for the last year and a half, which has now grown to have over 1,000 members who contribute daily. For the remainder of my internship at the company I was involved in conference filming jobs, creating a pitch for the RNLI to create an hour long TV piece documentary about the Penlee lifeboat station and filmed another two PWA competitions in Sylt and New Caledonia, taking me further around the globe than I had even been in my life. From the age of ten I dreamt of one day being a cameraman that would travel the world taking photos and making films. I always imagined I’d be 40 before it ever happened, but at the age of 22 I found myself travelling 11,000 miles around the world and getting paid to do it. I have now moved back to Bristol, and am looking to keep up the momentum of the last year and keep developing and growing as a professional. I am hoping to bring my tenacity and experience to a new company and to offer my video making skills in anyway possible in order to experience new things and tell more stories, as to me film is the strongest tool we have for helping people relate and empathise, and what I call the ‘Empathy Canon’.
More from this author
Masterclass Recap: How To Vlog
Here at Rife we host regular masterclasses aimed at valuable information away for free by people who know.
ACAB: Anarchism vs The Law
In this new documentary, Jack investigates the anarchist slogan All Cops Are B*****ds and whether the general public agrees...
Problems Modern Day Kids Suffer That Parents Won't Understand
We're always being told how easy we have it these days, with everything available at the swipe of a finger.
