Resources and activities for Experiential Learning

A series of resources for self-directed learning, as an extension of the core themes of the Impact Festival.

To complement the panels, workshops and Zoom-based festival activities, we've collated a set of resources to continue to inspire, inform, reflect and provoke questions around the theme of accelerating impact towards ending homelessness alongside the main schedule.

Unlike the main festival events, these resources are entirely self-directed, and cater to some different modes. Watch, read, listen, experience or reflect, and feel free to dip in as much or as little as you like.

All resources

Reflect
Compassion Meditation

This guided meditation by Greater Good in Action is designed to strengthen feelings of concern and empathy for the suffering of others.

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Reflect
Self-Care and Activism

What keeps activists and women human rights defenders going? Collective and self-care are key. This infographic from the Global Fund for Women shows how we can apply lessons from the women on the front lines of defending human rights to keeping our own activism strong and healthy.

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Watch
Talking about homelessness: Introduction to framing

To end homelessness for good, a powerful new big idea must replace old notions of poor choices and inevitability. Working together, we can tell a new story about homelessness in the United Kingdom. One that builds public understanding and support for change. One that drives political will for action. Based on research with more than 10,000 people in the UK, this video series from The FrameWorks Institute explains what framing homelessness is, why it matters, and how you can put framing tools and techniques into practice yourself.

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Experience
Dying Homeless

This memorial by the Museum of Homelessness remembers with love the 1468 people who have died whilst homeless since October 2017, when the count began.

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Experience
Museum of Homelessness Collection & Archive

The Museum of Homelessness has a small but growing collection of objects and archival records drawn from various organisations, individuals, and through its projects. This section of the site contains a selection of objects, stories, and essays chosen by a range of contributors that say something about homelessness history and what is going on today.

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Experience
Understanding Homlessness - Explore the Data

In January 2015, volunteers nationwide counted 546,580 homeless people in the United States. This visualization shows those homeless people as dots, repositioning and coloring them according to geography, economic factors, and social considerations to reveal insights about the problem of homelessness.

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Read
Racial discrimination in UK housing has a long history and deep roots - LSE Blog

Following the publication of the government’s racial disparity audit, Kevin Gulliver gives an overview of such disparities in housing. Drawing on several studies on the matter, he explains the causes and suggests some of the solutions.

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Read
Tell Them Who I Am by Elliot Liebow

In Tell Them Who I Am, anthropologist Elliot Liebow carefully investigates and documents the patterns and routines of homeless women. These are not the most visible homeless, Liebow tells us, not the "throwaway" homeless we see on the street. Rather they are members of the larger but less visible majority of people who are homeless but who still retain connections with society.

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Read
Homesick: Why I Live in a Shed by Catrina Davies

The story of author Catrina Davies, who after finding herself living in a cramped box-room in a shared house in Bristol, working several jobs and struggling to pay the rent, decided to move to her childhood home of Cornwall and re-build a tiny, dilapidated shed into her new home.

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Watch
How Child Neglect Harms Brain Development in Children

Biological and developmental research shows significant neglect—the ongoing disruption or significant absence of caregiver responsiveness—can cause more lasting harm to a young child’s development than overt physical abuse, including subsequent cognitive delays, impairments in executive functioning, and disruptions of the body’s stress response. This edition of the InBrief series explains why significant deprivation is so harmful in the earliest years of life and why effective interventions are likely to pay significant dividends in better long-term outcomes in learning, health, and parenting of the next generation.

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Read
Poverty Safari by Darren McGarvey

Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain's Underclass by Scottish rapper and author Darren McGarvey, also known as Loki, is a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller and Winner of the Orwell Prize 2018. Arguing that both the political left and right misunderstand poverty as it is actually lived, McGarvey sets out what everybody – including himself – could do to change things.

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Read
Social Housing - Definitions and Design Exemplars by Paul Karakusevic & Abigail Batchelor

Published in April 2017, this book explores the best new public housing at a pivotal time for the sector, focusing primarily on an architectural lens. It accompanied an exhibition of the same name at RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) in 2017.

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Read
Housing Economics : A Historical Approach by Ken Gibbing

The history of housing shows long-run social progress, littered with major disasters; nevertheless the progress is often forgotten, whilst the difficulties hit the headlines. Housing Economics provides a long-term economic perspective on macro and urban housing issues, from the Victorian era onwards. A historical perspective sheds light on modern problems and the constraints on what can be achieved; it concentrates on the key policy issues of housing supply, affordability, tenure, the distribution of migrant communities, mortgage markets and household mobility.

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Read
Big Capital: Who is London For? by Anna Minton

London is facing the worst housing crisis in modern times, with knock-on effects for the rest of the UK. Anna Minton cuts through the complexities, jargon and spin to give a clear-sighted account of how we got into this mess and how we can get out of it.

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Read
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond follows eight families struggling to pay rent to their landlords during the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Evicted transforms our understanding of poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving one of 21st-century America's most devastating problems.

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Listen
Challenging by Shelter

This podcast by Shelter explores how co-design and collaboration can help people with MCNs (multiple complex needs). In particular, with focuses on a project Shelter undertook to bring together Lead Workers, experienced support workers, and Peer Mentors, who had experienced homelessness themselves and had worked to overcome these.

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Listen
Total Eclipse of the Heart: The Choir with No Name

The Choir with No Name is made up of people who've experienced homelessness. Check out their first music video, a beautiful cover of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

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Listen
Homeless Hub Podcast: Reimagining the Response to Youth Homelessness

In this episode, Homeless Hub explores what it means to be young and homeless through three distinct parts. Part 1 is an interview with Connor, a youth with lived experience, Part 2 is a discussion on a recent report on youth homelessness in Canada, and Part 3 shows how a homeless youth shelter has already begun implementing the findings from said report into their work.

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Listen
No. 1 Clapham Road: The Diary of a Squat

Diary Of A Squat was written by Jean Delarue during his time at 1 Clapham Road, an autonomous housing project for people who were homeless during Thatcher’s 1980s. It was situated in Belgrave Children’s Hospital, a landmark building that still stands opposite Oval Tube Station. 1 Clapham Road housed migrants finding their feet, pensioners without pensions, ex-prisoners, thieves, depressed philosophers, drug addicts, and middle-class idealists. This link allows you to stream or download the audiobook for free.

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Listen
Sound Judgement by Accumulate

This podcast series is brought to you by people who have been affected by homelessness. The podcasts belong to this group, it's their voice, covering topics that are of interest to them and showcases the diversity of their hidden talent, creativity, and potential. A project by Accumulate, the Art School for the Homeless.

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Listen
The Homeless World Cup: Reframing Homelessness

In this episode of the Homeless World Cup Podcast, we hear from Gavin Yates, Chief Executive of Homeless Action Scotland. Recently, HAS agreed to work with Crisis around the FrameWorks Institute’s “Reframing Homelessness” report, which aims to examine public perceptions of homelessness and how it can be better communicated.

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Listen
Reasons to be Cheerful: Tackling rough sleeping - why does it take a pandemic?

Ed Milliband and Geoff Lloyd host this podcast exploring ideas to fix the world. In this episode, they talk to Matt Downie from Crisis and Maggie Brunjes from Homeless Network Scotland about how we can build on the last few weeks to end rough sleeping for good. Then Danny Dorling discusses what this shows about our ability to tackle injustice and why he thinks the world was slowing down even before the current crisis

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Listen
Reasons to be Cheerful: Housing First

Ed Milliband and Geoff Lloyd host this podcast exploring ideas to fix the world. In this episode, they explore Housing First as a long-term solution to Britain's homelessness crisis.

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Listen
Making A House A Home (Housing Europe): Housing First

In this episode of Housing Europe's Making A House A Home podcast, the team turns its attention to Housing First. Finland and Flanders are among the areas to have successfully implemented Housing First - what can their case tell us about its potential for solving homelessness?

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Listen
Planet Money (NPR): Counting the Homeless

In this episode of NPR's Planet Money podcast, three efforts to address homelessness across America are explored. Among them, one of the trickiest challenges in getting people off the street: counting the homeless.

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Listen
The Documentary Podcast (BBC): The Hidden Homeless

On this episode of BBC's The Documentary Podcast, we meet the families living in cramped, unstable temporary accommodation as they wait for a place to call a home.

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Listen
People Fixing The World (BBC): How To Help Homeless People In Hospital

In this episode, People Fixing the World talks to an innovative healthcare charity that aims to transform a hospital visit into an opportunity for long-term change and support for homeless patients.

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Watch
How to overcome apathy and find your power

Using humor and personal anecdotes from a career spanning almost 50 years, activist Dolores Huerta offers inspiration on how anyone can overcome apathy and find their voice and their power to activate social change.

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Reflect
Yoga for Connection

Hop on the mat for this slow and low to the ground 30 minute breath and body practice. This at home Yoga With Adriene session will provide you the opportunity to circle back and connect to yourself when you are in need. This which will in turn help you connect to others and live a life that doesn’t suck but that serves.

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Read
Obliquity by John Kay

If you want to go in one direction, the best route may involve going in another. This is the concept of ‘obliquity’: paradoxical as it sounds, many goals are more likely to be achieved when pursued indirectly. Whether overcoming geographical obstacles, winning decisive battles or meeting sales targets, history shows us that oblique approaches are the most successful, especially in difficult terrain.

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Watch
SHELTER documentary

From Vice Documentary Films, executive producer Michael K. Williams (The Wire) and the Peabody award-winning Renaud Brothers, SHELTER tells the raw and emotional stories of our brave young people as they seek help and hope at Covenant House.

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