Always on
This project successfully funded on 7th July 2023, you can still support them with a donation.
Homeless Deaths Memorial Sculpture
Brighton, England, United Kingdom
£14,083
raised so far
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Aim
Raising funds needed to fabricate and install a public sculpture that commemorates people who have died whilst homeless.
SUPPORT OUR 'FALLEN LEAVES' CAMPAIGN
1313 people died whilst homeless last year. Now you can show your support for a reduction in this by wearing one of our fallen leaf badges.
Just like the individuals that died last year, each one of these badges is unique. They have been laser cut and then hand painted by our participants. See a video of us making them
We are asking for a £10 donation for these badges but if you can't afford this and would like to support the cause, please select the reduced rate of £2.
You can also choose one of the higher amounts or get some badges for your friends and family...we would love to send out all 1313!
All donations go towards the construction and installation of the sculpture detailed below.
Thanks for looking and please wear your badge in support and share this with friends.
The Homeless Deaths Memorial Sculpture is a 'first of its kind' public artwork being created to commemorate people who have died whilst homeless.
People who lose their lives whilst homeless often have no funeral or remembrance service and there is usually no record of their lives or site at which people can remember them.
Over the past two years we have worked directly with people who are homeless or have been recently, to ensure their ideas and opinions are part of the artwork and now we need your help to raise enough money to turn these ideas into a reality.
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The artwork will be a permanent installation in Brighthelm Gardens, central Brighton which is half way down on the walk from the station to the seafront. Placing the artwork here will bring the issue to the attention of millions of visitors to the city and help to create better public awareness of the tragic statistics associated with homelessness.
The average age at death was 45 for men and 43 for women. This is more than 30 years lower than the average age at death of the general population.
Shelter 2022
The artwork is being created by Making it Out, a local charity, who help people to move on from prison, homelessness and addiction through regular engagement in creative making. All of the manufacture and installation of the artwork will be carried out by MIO and our participants and will create direct employment and further training opportunities.
The project has three key outcomes:
- Creation of a peaceful and meaningful artwork that provides solace and a place to mourn.
- To highlight the risks associated with homelessness and encourage people who are homeless to seek help.
- To bring the issue of homeless deaths to a wider audience and encourage the public to support local organisations and campaign for change.
Official figures for 2021 state that an estimated 741 homeless people died in England and Wales - 54% higher than when records began in 2013. However figures from the museum of homelessness, considered to be more accurate, put this number at 1313.
Funds from this crowdfunder will go towards the planning, build and installation of the sculpture, as detailed below:
- Planning permission application & structural engineering calculations
- Materials for construction of concrete base and stainless steel tree.
- Staff costs for manufacture and installation.
- Materials and equipment hire for installation
- Production of signage and up to date information to help explain the project, encourage the public to help and direct people in need to find help.
Co-creation
From the very start of the project it was clear that the artwork not only had to represent the homeless community but that the design should also originate from people who had experienced homelessness and families and friends of those no longer able to contribute. For this to be possible, we set out on a process of co-creation, looking for ways to empower people who wouldn’t usually get involved in ‘creative’ activities or consider their input important.
This ethos has remained throughout the project in the form of a committee, art packs, outreach sessions and the establishment of a workgroup. As the sculpture is constructed, we will create opportunities for further involvement in manufacture and installation.
Design of the Sculpture
The working design shows a stainless-steel framework of a tree combined with the abstracted form of a seated human figure hunched over made from stacked blocks of recycled concrete.
The tree is growing across the back of the figure with branches wrapping around trying to find somewhere a surface to anchor and seemingly surviving despite difficult circumstances.
The separate ‘piled’ concrete blocks instead of a traditional plinth represents broken foundations that are often a factor in homelessness.
The tree’s delicacy and almost transparency contrasts with its determined effort to survive in a hard, unforgiving, and inhospitable urban environment. The growth over the concrete also gives the impression they have been static for a long time, symbolic of a lack of action on homelessness in the UK.
REWARD REFERENCE IMAGES
Right click/long press (open in new tab to see larger)
Limited edition print (£25 in reward section)
Micro sculptures of the memorial
Laser cut landscape examples.
AMEX stadium in the downs (laser cut landscape artwork)
Brighton Pavilion laser cut artwork
Bespoke street map example
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made