Innovative poetry project launches in our homelessness services
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Local people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless, as well as members of the wider community, are taking part in an exciting new poetry project which will see them asking questions about their life and what the future may hold.
‘The Long Path to True North’, which is running at our Cornerstone centre and Morning Star accommodation in Manchester, has been supported using public funding by Arts Council England, and is the latest in a series of creative wellbeing activities run by our charity to help support local people.
The group, guided by poet Phil Davenport and artist Christine Johnson will devise poems and create special paper sculptures as they imagine new life paths and ask themselves questions about their hopes and aspirations for the future.
The poems will be developed through a year of sessions, some during one-to-one conversations with people experiencing homelessness, with others through more formal community workshops and off-site visits to inspire thought and discussion.
The final works will be exhibited in libraries across Manchester in 2026.
Patrick O’Dowd, director of Caritas Salford, said: “When people think of our services they may think about the urgent, critical support we offer when people are experiencing a time of acute crisis. While this is vital and a huge part of our work, our support doesn’t stop there.
“We’re really proud to work with people who come to our services to help shape the activities on offer and that enables us to not only better meet their needs, but also to do so holistically.
“Health and wellbeing plays such an important role in all of our lives and developing new skills, staying as well as we can be, and interacting with others all plays a part.
“This latest project is just one example of this holistic approach to supporting people in Greater Manchester and Lancashire as they transform their lives.
“It’s exciting and thought-provoking and it has really made me think about the future in different ways. I’m really looking forward to hearing more about the poems that they create and to seeing the sculptures too.”
‘The Long Path to True North’ follows the successful ‘A Place at the Table’ poetry project which saw people experiencing homelessness develop poster poems evoking a day in the life of the many authors. It brought focus to the voices of Manchester people during the cost-of-living crisis and culminated in an exhibition at HOME in the city centre.
One participant said: “Can you put your sadness down on paper, out of your heart? If you really put yourself into this thing, it brings joy always.”
Our Cornerstone day centre supports hundreds of local people every week and is just one of our services working alongside people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless in the city.
As well as providing hot meals, showers and crisis support for those who need it, the team at Cornerstone is committed to not only supporting those who are already homeless but also preventing people from becoming homeless too.
They work alongside people to help them secure safe accommodation and ensure appropriate support for health and wellbeing, access to specialist support services, education, training, and volunteering opportunities, and employment, as a means of sustaining positive housing outcomes.
Our Morning Star accommodation, which is next to Cornerstone in central Manchester, provides a safe, high quality supported home for single homeless men.
The team there provides the time for people to build the confidence and skills for independent living and supports the re-establishment of relationships with those closest to them if possible. We also work alongside people to empower them to transform their lives with dignity, aiming to help them to move on and successfully resettle in the community.
To donate in support of our work so we can run even more projects to help local people develop new skills and increase their confidence, visit www.caritassalford.org.uk/donate
