World Homeless Day
- Location
- The Exchange: 3 Centenary Square Birmingham B1 2DR
- Event cost
- Free, booking recommended
- Dates
- Thursday 10 October 2024 (18:30-20:30)
World Homeless Day is a global initiative highlighting the challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness.
At The Exchange, we’ll focus on Birmingham’s urgent need for more social housing amidst a shortage of over 20,000 homes. The discussion will centre on the profound impacts of housing insecurity on children and families, touching on education, employment, community health, and cohesion.
Author and journalist Kieran Yates will share personal experiences from her book All the Houses I’ve Ever Lived In: Finding Home in a System that Fails Us, and Peter Kraftl, Professor of Human Geography at University of Birmingham, will discuss research into local strategies for reducing housing insecurity among families with children.
Panel Chair:
Jane Haynes: BirminghamLive's award winning Politics and People Editor. Jane seeks to show how political decisions translate into real lives. Her focus is on exposing social injustice, with specialism in health, housing and homelessness and the impact of poverty and inequality.
Panellists:
Kieran Yates is a journalist, broadcaster and author who writes regularly on youth culture, housing, immigration and politics for publications including the Guardian, the Independent and VICE. Kieran's debut book All The Houses I've Ever Lived In is about home and the housing crisis.
Prof. Peter Kraftl is best known for his research on children’s geographies, focusing on children and young people’s experiences of and interactions with environmental processes – such as sustainable urban design, environmental resources and pollution. He is currently contributing to a research project on children and housing insecurity.
Gareth Webber manages Shelter’s Advice services in Birmingham, which offer housing-related advice, guidance and legal assistance to clients across the city. The advice work he oversees has a particular focus on families living in temporary accommodation, and he works with grassroots organisations and schools to provide access to advice services that challenge suitability and conditions and uphold tenants’ rights.