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New documentary to combat youth homelessness

May 12 2011
Scheme will raise awareness of substance misuse and social isolation


A new project has been set up in Birmingham to raise awareness of the risk of homelessness as a result of alcohol and substance misuse.

‘UpLifting’ is a social action project run by three young people from Birmingham who are passionate about reversing the increasing trend of homelessness amongst young people in the city. The project is part of the Birmingham Uprising scheme (www.uprising.org.uk), a leadership programme which supports enthusiastic young people to make a real difference in their community, offering training and ongoing mentoring to the project leaders.

‘Uplifting’ is campaigning to raise awareness of homelessness and substance misuse among young people, with the aim of reducing the number of homeless youngsters in Birmingham. Research carried out by the project earlier this year suggested there is a link between youth homelessness in Birmingham and the rising number of young people misusing alcohol and other harmful substances, either directly or because it can cause relationship breakdown or social isolation.

While the project is sympathetic to the many causes of homeless ness and the situations that could lead to a dependence on drugs or alcohol, ‘Uplifting’ wants to provide a hard-hitting documentary to show to young people of school age to get them thinking about the issues involved and the possible long-term effects of their actions. As well as showing interviews and presenting figures from their research, ‘UpLifting’ want to profile real-life stories in their documentary. They therefore want to hear from young people in their late teens or early 20s who are experiencing or have experienced these issues.

As part of their research, ‘UpLifting’ has been taking an active role in the homeless community in the past few months. The project leaders have met with various charitable organisations in Birmingham and those that use their services - including St Basil’s, REACH and Midland Heart - to gain valuable experience, knowledge and advice. In a recent meeting, the project got a positive response from those attending SIFA Fireside’s Service User Forum, and have made plans to return in order to screen a version of the documentary.

‘Uplifting’ organisers have expressed a wish to build a sustainable project that will continue beyond the Birmingham programme, and they have been seeking business advice to help them achieve this. The ‘UpLifting’ project is a great example of a Social Action Project, run by committed, conscientious young people who are enthusiastic about building a fairer society. Jess, one of the project leaders, said: “We want to gather people’s opinions on our project to use alongside our partnership work... This will help us to ensure that we are able to incorporate the opinions, knowledge and expertise of those people who have experienced, or are experiencing the effects of alcohol, substance abuse and homelessness, in order to really make our project work.”

‘UpLifting’ hope to film their documentary in May 2011. If you think your experiences could contribute to their documentary, or would like any other information, you can contact the project at: brumuplifting@gmail.com

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