Homelessness Tears Young Lives Apart in Campaign for End Youth Homelessness

End Youth Homelessness’ (EYH), a national movement of local charities, has launched a new OOH poster campaign with creative from advertising, media and music agency Truant London and media provided by Jack.

EYH’s message is striking; 22,000 young people face homelessness this winter. 

As such, Truant’s concept visually tears apart the commonly used phrase 'HOME SWEET HOME' in order to depict the message that homeless young people have nowhere to call home. Instead, their family lives are often broken ones; a recent study reveals that more than half of homeless young people are forced into homelessness because of family breakdown. 

Independent creative out-of-home agency, Jack, generously donated media for the campaign, which will appear in 105 poster sites across London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of EYH’s Housing Fund, which will support young people who are facing homelessness, into their own homes. The Fund will provide the practical help they need to find and move into a suitable home, as well as offering bursary and bond schemes to tackle prohibitive upfront costs. 

The 22,000 figure lays bare the worrying number of young people with nowhere to call home this Christmas; comparable to more than the capacity of a sold-out gig at The O2 arena in London (20,000). While most of us will be spending the festive season enjoying family and the comforts of home, many young people won’t have this luxury.   

End Youth Homelessness is calling on the public to make change happen and support the Housing Fund. It costs £20 to provide a young person with an hour of support with a resettlement professional who will help a young person find a home of their own and escape homelessness for good. 

Nick Connolly, MD at End Youth Homelessness said: “We’re delighted to be working with Truant London and Jack to launch this exciting campaign to raise awareness of our new Housing Fund. Homeless young people can overcome challenges, develop skills and gain employment but if they cannot find a safe, secure and affordable home, their lives remain in hold. The Housing Fund is a springboard which helps young people overcome the practical and financial hurdles to securing a home. Support the Housing Fund to end youth homelessness today.”

Linn Frost, client partner at Truant London, said: “This campaign highlights the fact that, through no fault of their own, it’s frighteningly easy for a young person to find themselves homeless.  We are utterly committed to supporting EYH with its campaign to end youth homelessness by capturing the public’s attention through hard-hitting and uncompromising creative work that simply can’t be ignored.”

Khaly Nguyen at Jack said: "The term 'Home, Sweet Home' resonates with many of us at this time of year, but for 22,000 young people, homes will be hard to come by this Christmas. We’re proud to be partnering with EYH on this important issue, using our sites across the UK to spread awareness and to help end youth homelessness.”