On Friday 28th June, we will be hosting a live lunchtime edition of our Bromford Lab twitter chat, based around the provocation:
IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE TO END HOMELESSNESS?
This time, we’re combining our online #blabchat with a live panel discussion and inspiration session which we will be linking together through a live-stream broadcast of both sessions.
We’ve been running inspiration sessions for a little while now because we believe that Inspiration awakens us to new possibilities by allowing us to embrace our curiosity, move beyond our day to day activity and challenge the status quo. Inspiration sessions are all about giving ourselves space to think differently by coming together to discuss a range of interesting blogs, articles, videos and podcasts. There is no right or wrong answer in an inspiration session; you might love some of the content, you might hate it, but that doesn’t matter so long as they generate a good discussion.
If you would like to follow the discussion, keep an eye on the #blabchat twitter feed from 12pm on 28th June where we will be posting a link to the live-stream.
Here’s a list of the interesting content we will be discussing during the inspiration session:
QUICK WATCH: TED Talk - The Year I was homeless
Becky Blanton is a writer, photographer and former journalist who found herself homeless, but bounced back to tell her story and inspire others.
READ: Everybody In: How to end homelessness in Great Britain
In 21st century Britain, everybody should have a place to live. This is a proposal from Crisis to get ‘Everybody In’ in order to end homelessness.
READ: Tiny Houses For The Homeless in Los Angeles and WATCH: My Tiny House Project LA Promo
Elvis Summers has a simple mission: to give people in the world a safe place to sleep, so through a project he set up he now builds Tiny Houses for the Homeless in Los Angeles.
READ: Inventor creates cardboard BEDS for Birmingham's homeless
Elliot Lord’s design of a cardboard bed for the homeless won the first of a regular competition to help communities across Birmingham - Birmingham Soup.
READ: 8 brilliant innovations helping homeless populations around the world
Homelessness is a complex and intractable problem, but while there may not be a one-size-fits-all formula for homeless people in every community, technology and innovation can help fill in the gaps.
LONG WATCH: 60 Days on the Streets, Episode 1 (48 Mins)
Former soldier Ed Stafford spends 60 winter days and nights on the street with no money and no shelter, filming himself, to get a first-hand view of Britain's growing homelessness crisis. In Episode 1, Ed heads to Manchester.
READ: Facts about homelessness - The Connection at St Martin's
The most severe and visible form of homelessness is rough sleeping, but homelessness takes a variety of forms. Here, The Connection at St Matrin’s share some facts about homelessness.
StreetLink exists to help end rough sleeping by enabling members of the public to connect people sleeping rough with the local services that can support them.
READ: Homeless people in UK ‘denied social housing as risky tenants’
Housing associations have come under fire for routinely refusing to house homeless people nominated for empty social housing properties, on the grounds that welfare cuts make the poorest prospective tenants too much of a financial risk.
WATCH: TED Talk - Homeless by design
When Maurice Young checked himself into a local homeless shelter looking for a break from his life, what he didn’t expect to find was his life’s work. Maurice was never homeless, but since that day he has lived on the streets by choice.
---
Cover Image: Photo by Ev on Unsplash