The Crisis Youth Volunteering Programme is offering young people the opportunity to create a short production looking at their experiences of being homeless.

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Friday Feb 22, 2008

Caught in the act

Getting down to business...

Posted by Crisis Youth Volunteers ( 2:18 PM )
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Warming up

Stretch those legs everyone!

Posted by Crisis Youth Volunteers ( 2:16 PM )
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Sharing ideas

Just look at the concentration!

You have to be comfortable to get those thoughts flowing.

Posted by Crisis Youth Volunteers ( 2:13 PM )
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Working with the BBC

My name is Adam Reed and I am 21 years old from East London. I became homeless because of unforeseen family issues.

I became involved in the project through my hostel; I was looking for work and was finding it hard so I asked my hostel manager for help. He told me about this project and I was interested in working with the BBC and trying to stop other young people from falling into the same trap as me.

I would hope to get a clearer understanding of what I want from life and would hope to be on my way to a good career in the next year! I would like to do something with art or drama but I also like working with young people…so maybe look into doing something along the lines of teaching Art in school.

Posted by Crisis Youth Volunteers ( 11:07 AM )
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Not just on the streets

Hi my name is Mo, I left home when I decided that I wanted to start a new life for myself. At home, I was very comfortable materialistically speaking but very unhappy. The constant disputes with my family about my lifestyle became very tiring.

My mum is a traditional and religious Asian women who practices her faith and tries to implement it into her own life as well as all the siblings in the household. This became an issue for me as I do not practice my faith on a day to day basis. Me and my mum could not see eye to eye for a while and as she felt very strongly about how I should live my life, we kept arguing.

I finally left home when my mum gave me ultimatums which I could not agree to and so I packed my bags and left with the little money I had saved.

My friend was kind enough to let me stay at her house and I am currently living in temporary accommodation. I should be housed within the next few months.

Me and my family are still in touch and I see them regularly and as I do not live in the family household any longer, I am no longer bound to the rules so we don’t argue anymore!!

Although I feel I made the right choice as I was ready to build a life for myself, I’m concerned as to why some young people move out of their homes and where their lives are headed after that. It often saddens me when I meet people in my situation and can see they have not reached the maturity level to live independently and are getting mixed up in the wrong things. I personally feel that unless there are extreme circumstances as to why someone wants to move out, I would not advise it.

I have been lucky enough to have got in touch with the right people and had a good support network, whether that was through services, friends or family. However, I know this is not the case with a lot of people and therefore another person in my position could have been very vulnerable and at risk to so many things.

This brings me to why I decided to take part in this project. I felt that as I am going through this myself, it made sense to try to help others that may be in a similar situation, especially for those who would not be able to handle homelessness as well. The aim of this project with Crisis is to make people aware that homelessness does not only apply to people on the streets; which is what a lot of people are led to believe. Also to educate young people and let them think twice as it isn’t easy to provide for yourself and to start from scratch. A lot of young people are under a misconception that it is ‘a walk in the park’ as it is glamorized by their peers. Everyone participating on this project hope to help them realize that in actual reality, it is a very different story and can actually have a very sad ending…

Posted by Crisis Youth Volunteers ( 11:03 AM )
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Improving skills

Hello my name is Christopher Sylvester I am 21.

I used to have frequent arguments with my mum and decided to drop out of college after the first year (although I went back the second year to complete it) and that was the last straw as I got kicked out.

I got involved in this project because I thought it would be a great opportunity to improve on skills as well as meet new people in a similar situation to me. Having previously done the Prince’s Trust team program, I thought that this project would be similar and I thought I could enjoy it just as much and also there was a trip to Scotland that was inviting!

I hope to gain a qualification, a good DVD, some good friends and some useful links upon completion of this course.

Posted by Crisis Youth Volunteers ( 11:01 AM )
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Taboo subject

My name is Terry Coussens. I am 19 years old. I became homeless in October 2007 due to eviction from my council place. From here I was street homeless for 5 weeks before staying at crisis on Christmas for a week. Thanks to Crisis, I was referred to a short term (28 day) hostel where I found Look Ahead Gateway hostel where I am staying at the moment and for the next 2 years.

I got involved in this project because I feel it is still a taboo subject being homeless. I feel that this is wrong so I hope to get involved to show people that homeless people don’t just live on the streets but live in hostels as well. I hope to show people this by sharing my experiences with other people and if this DVD only helps one young person make the right choices when they leave school then I will be happy because it means that there is one less young person on the street.

Out of this project I hope to get the point across to people that homelessness is not just the people you see on the streets, it is also people in hostels as well as people on the street.

I also hope to be able to help other young people make the right choices in life about moving out of their family home.

Posted by Crisis Youth Volunteers ( 11:00 AM )
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New experiences

My name is Anthony Fuhey and I am 20 years old. I became homeless about a year ago. It happened by falling out with my parents and being forced to leave home. I then went everywhere to try and get help but there was none. I eventually went to 28 day shelter and I am now living in a permanent hostel.

I got involved with this project for a number of reasons. To make new friends but also to build confidence and get more experience. Also, try to help make a difference and stop people from becoming homeless.

At the end of this project, I hope to walk away with new friends, experience, hopefully make a difference, gain a qualification and get back into work.

Posted by Crisis Youth Volunteers ( 10:59 AM )
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Keeping busy

My name is Katra and I am 19 years old.

I became homeless because my aunt kicked me out of her house and my family moved away from England without me knowing because I was away in Kenya to see my grandmother.

I got involved in this project because my support worker told me about it and I was interested in what it involved so I asked him to apply for me and I also wanted to do something that would keep me busy in order to forget what happened to me in the past.

Posted by Crisis Youth Volunteers ( 10:56 AM )
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The background

The Crisis Youth Volunteering Programme offers young homeless people (18-25) the opportunity to work as a team to organise and put on events, exploring issues around homelessness. This also provides the opportunity for them to work towards a qualification, supporting their progression into employment or further education.

This project will give young homeless people the opportunity to create a short drama-based production looking at their experiences of being homeless. Working with the BBC, these young people will have the opportunity to film this production and turn it into a DVD for secondary school students raising awareness of homelessness and hopefully preventing other young people from experiencing it first hand.

Posted by Crisis Youth Volunteers ( 10:52 AM )
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