Rough Sleeper and Homelessness in Portsmouth

I am currently engaged in a project challenging public attitudes to rough sleeping and homelessness with the Society of St James.

Also researching how portraiture can be used as a tool in breaking cyclical narratives of negative entrenched, internalised ideas of self-worth and boost self-esteem particularly in difficult areas of mental ill-health, drug and alcohol dependency. I shall be updating this page with new paintings in the comings months. 

From March 2024 to March 2025 I'd go out with the Society of St James' outreach team  every Tuesday morning to do well fare checks on regular clients (the SSJ call them clients) and any new ones that come through Streetlink*. The SSJ has a day centre where the clients can clean up and get food, after the mornings outreach rounds this is where I catch up with regulars and get to know new ones. In the afternoon I take part in an art class sketching clients and taking photographs for reference material.

*Streetlink is a national network where the public can report a rough sleeper on their website, the SSJ and other like minded charities up and down the country will respond with a welfare check and any help they need.