Photo by Mat Amp Instagram @matamp67  As this project has gathered speed and reports have started to come in more regularly, reporters have, understandably, been asking about the impact of their reports. While it’s not always easy to quantify impact it’s important that we try. The experience of being homeless often makes you feel invisible, […]

As part of my regular nine to five job I occasionally observe digital inclusion coaching sessions. These are when someone with good digital skills helps try and teach someone else with less good digital skills. I watched one session and decided to make an observation to the person being helped, Janet. Janet’s response was lengthy […]

Accommodation Mental Health Recovery Support and Relationships Hi I’m Tess, I work for Groundswell and have a long history of mental illness. During a particularly bad patch I sofa surfed for a while. I have a very opinionated cat and live near Manchester, although I’m formerly from Stoke-on-Trent. Read all of Tess’s articles Accommodation Mental […]

I was shocked by this situation where people are left on the streets while at the same time told ‘Stay at home, save lives. The hypocrisy! ‘Everybody in’ initiative was a great opportunity and a great hope. However, I cynically fear, it only happened due to the general spirit of the 1st lockdown. There were some campaigns and acknowledgment of the problem by organisations […]

During our last meeting I mentioned a TV series I’m watching and, although it’s fiction, it’s well researched and the topics are dealt with great accuracy, replicating true events. This drama begins in the East End of London, and they’ve produced episodes spanning from 1957 to 1969. What shocked me is that nothing has changed – […]

I spend half my weekends in a shop. I’m not spending money but I’m also not earning any.  Much of the time I’m sat at a till serving customers, tidying the shop, price checking new products and drinking lots of tea. The rest of the time I’m sorting donations, pricing up books and circulating stock. […]

You’re sitting on a sleeping bag outside CostCutter – as was a young man I spoke to recently – in the cold, in the dark, it’s midwinter. Sick, scared and alone. What do you need? At the very least a phone. But is it enough? Are the services you require accessible, do they exist in a […]

The Vagrancy Act of 1866 makes it a criminal offence to beg or to be homeless on the streets of England and Wales. The law was passed in the summer of 1824 (197 years ago) and it was originally intended to deal with a situation far from the reality of street homelessness in the present […]

I’m Karen from Manchester it’s great to meet you all. I’m a recovering alcoholic, I experienced a short time of homelessness many years ago, I’m a survivor of domestic abuse and I’m happy to say I’ve come through it all. I volunteered at a local Alcohol and Substance Abuse centre where I qualified as a […]

This picture is by one of our reporters who choses to report anonymously. This reporter has previously talked about their connection to a group of cats and how this has supported them through very difficult times. This picture, bathed in shadow is a powerful way of communicating feelings that came up after our reporter was […]

This post mentions drug taking.  In this piece I talk about what this project has done for me and the potential it offers reporters to share stories they’ve kept locked up or have shared in the past and not received a positive reaction. Please excuse my nervous use of the phrase ‘you know’…We all know, […]

My mentor Steve asked me what I thought  Volunteering would do for me ? How it felt being part of something new and did I have any expectations from this role ? Well I feel very honoured to be part of the  Groundswell team especially at the beginning of such a new and exciting campaign. […]

When I was asked to be part of this project I was really excited. I had no expectations and really no idea what I was doing apart from writing in general, which I’m passionate about . I wanted to share some stories of how it has been being a women who has experienced homelessness, substance […]

11th August 2022 I was in Manchester City Centre today the 11th August it was unbearably hot reaching 32° by 3pm. This is global warming and its starting to scare me now because we don’t know how bad it’s going to get. As I walked through Manchester in my cool summer clothes, hair scraped up […]