Locked out: youth homelessness during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic
Centrepoint’s policy and research officer Billy Harding talks about our new research on the impacts of Coronavirus on youth homelessness in England.
Centrepoint’s policy and research officer Billy Harding talks about our new research on the impacts of Coronavirus on youth homelessness in England.
Leni* (20), was referred to Centrepoint in 2020 after leaving care aged 18. They are now in their own flat, but still receive floating support as well as support from our dedicated health team. They identify as non-binary. This is in their words.
In the first of a series of blogs written by current and former residents, we meet Shannon Pink-Murphy who, with the support of Centrepoint, recently moved into her own place and started a foundation course at university - all in the midst of COVID-19. From Centrepoint resident to fashion student, here’s Shannon’s journey in her own words.
After being referred to Centrepoint at just 16, Jamie has longed for stable accommodation. This year, Jamie was able to secure herself a permanent place to call home. In her own words, here’s how she got there – and how she’ll be celebrating Christmas in her new abode.
Ziggy had a difficult journey before he found support from Centrepoint. He fell in with a bad crowd and was rough sleeping. Seven years since leaving services, Ziggy, now 29, got in touch with us wanting to share his story in his own words.
With over 600,000 shows and 62 million listeners, you could say podcasts are pretty popular - which is why we created our own. This National Podcasting Day, we’re taking a deep dive into one of our two fantastic Centrepoint podcasts, the youth-led Point Made.(Watch this space for the story of our mental health podcast, Centred.) Find out how we made it, why it was important, and discover the young people who helped make it such a passionate podcast.
Earlier this year, Ben Harris, 22, attempted to kayak solo the length of Lake Tanganika, the longest lake in the world. Despite some snags along the way, Ben managed to complete his mission and raised a whopping £12,000 for Centrepoint. Here, we speak to him about his incredible journey.
As our former engagement team begin to reintroduce events and outings that aim to inspire and empower as the HOMES Activities Team, we caught up with them after a residential outing to Staffordshire, which brought together homeless young people from services all over the country for some daring outdoor activities. Here, the team tell us what these trips mean to young people, and just how it helps them prepare for independence.
Mari found Centrepoint in 1997 after being thrown out of home aged just 15. Not only did Centrepoint provide Mari with a roof over her head, they also provided a support network that she relied on for many years after. Mari now has a family of her own and works as a teacher.
This research report explores the growing number of young people sleeping rough during the pandemic and evaluates the support that is available to them.