Streethands take to Stratford’s streets to combat young homelessness

Melissa York, Reporter Tuesday, November 20, 2012
2:34 PM

One of Newham’s newest organisations took to the streets in Stratford at the weekend to change perceptions about young homeless people.

Streethands, a not-for-proft group based in Stratford, set up shop in Meridian Square near the bus station talking to commuters, shoppers and residents alike about the plight of youngsters on the streets.

They also spoke to homeless people they saw in the area to give them advice about the local support available for them while challenging passersby to statistics based games.

Former University of East London student Soleha Khawar, 26, founded Streethands about a year ago to raise awareness about the high level of young homelessness in the borough.

She told the Recorder: “She said: “I wanted to instill a sense of responsbility in people because there’s so much apathy.

“A lot of people were amazed when I said that there were 84,000 homeless children in the UK because they said they didn’t really see children on the streets.

“It’s getting over the invisibility problem and, once people knew about it, they really wanted to do something about this issue.”