Be the change: Arts & Homelessness Leadership

You can help people with experience of homelessness become global cultural leaders, supporting them into paid work in the creative industries so that they can imagine and build more just and compassionate societies.

Homelessness is not just about housing, and research shows that arts and creativity builds mental and physical well-being, agency and resilience so that people can thrive not just survive. 

At the heart of what we do is co-creation – working with people not for them. At Arts & Homelessness Int. 50% of our Board of Trustees and staff team have lived experience of homelessness. 

We envision a world in which creativity is an integral part of homelessness and people who are or have been homeless are an intrinsic part of the arts. We bring positive change to people, projects and policy in homelessness around the world through creativity.

We organise professional development for homeless people in the arts world, ensuring that people who are or have been homeless have seats at decision-making tables. Whether that's joining council members to discuss and re-write homelessness strategies through the Arts & Homelessness Civic Plan, training galleries and museums to deepen access and involvement to homeless people, or learning how to become producers at high profile events such as Coventry City of Culture - we employ and work directly with people with lived experience to help them become leaders in their own right.

We are also pulling these strands into the world’s first annual leadership programme for homeless people where a cohort of creatives will engage in training, peer networking, placements in the creative industries, research and working with the world’s foremost artists and producers.

In addition to our advocacy and policy work, we act as a network for arts and homelessness organisations across the world, providing a platform for invaluable discussion and learning. 

In order to continue our important work, we urgently need to raise £20,000. Anything you can do to help us achieve our target, by making a gift to the campaign, sharing our story with your network and/or following us on social media, will be hugely appreciated by all of us at Arts & Homelessness International. We have a few modest rewards available as we'd really like for as many pennies as possible to go directly into the hands of people who are or have been homeless – if you can make a philanthropic gift it will ensure your support goes further.

Your support will enable us to continue helping people who are or have been homeless to be the change they want to see, to be part of making decisions that affect them and the homelessness community. 

Your support will affect change at local, national, international and government level. 

Your support will change attitudes towards people who are or have been homeless. 

Your support will change people's attitudes towards themselves, their capabilities and their future prospects.

Your support will change lives. 

£20 could pay for phone data for a month so that a homeless person can access training, presentations and professional development opportunities 

£150 could pay for three homeless people to help train local authority staff in co-creating policy

£900 could pay for two individuals to take professional development roles in Coventry City of Culture, running events, presenting their work and working behind the scenes at a major cultural event 

£2,500 could pay for a year's worth of of fees for artists and producers who are homeless from around the world to present and perform at our monthly forum meetings 

£10,000 could help us develop, co-design and launch the world’s first leadership programme for homeless people, the AHI Associates Programme – paid positions to undertake training, peer mentoring, placements, knowledge exchange, research, professional development and personal creative budgets; kick-starting their leadership journey in the cultural sector

Thank you so much, from all of us at AHI.