Meet the primary school children with big ideas to end homelessness in the UK

For six-year-old Tilly, the answer to ending homelessness is simple. “If I was prime minister, I would tell some builders to make lil cottages or houses and I’ll get some homeless people to stay in my house for a bit while the builders are building the houses. And once they’ve finished building the lil houses, they could just go and live there. That’s what I would do if I was prime minister for a day.”

Tilly says this assertively, with a hint of ‘duh’ in her voice (isn’t it obvious?). 

She is one of six children from St Mary’s Primary School in Walthamstow, East London, who spoke to the Big Issue about their big ideas to tackle homelessness. The school is on a mission to raise £18,000 for homelessness charities, an amount they have calculated would help one person off the streets.

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Halfway to their fundraising goal so far, the children are learning through the process, with the help of youth homelessness charities Centrepoint and Depaul.

Sitting on folding chairs in a circle in the school library, the youngest children’s feet just reaching the floor, they shoot up their hands and wriggle with enthusiasm to share what they have learnt and how they have raised money.

“We believe everyone deserves a home and, with this money, we’re going to get one person off the street with a bed, food and things they need,” says 10-year-old Aoife, who wrote to the Big Issue in June to share the school’s fundraising efforts.

They held a ‘TED Talks’ event where children gave speeches about homelessness, bringing teachers to tears. They also had movie nights, fairs and a skipathon, with one pupil raising £500.

Two other schools in the academy group – St Margarets in Barking and St Saviours in Walthamstow – are also undertaking the same mission. Together, the schools have already raised £18,000.

“We really want to make a difference,” says 10-year-old Fred confidently, “and because there are so many homeless people, we need to build awareness.”

Tilly and her twin sister Stella hosted a yard sale where they sold stickers, pencils, lollipops and their mum’s homemade lemonade, raising £40. “It was really, really good,” Tilly stresses.

Headteacher Joe Pitchford says the school started the project because homelessness is such a tangible issue for the children. They had noticed increasing numbers of people on the streets. “Children have this innate sense of justice that sometimes adults lose,” he adds.

Fred admits he “used to be scared of homeless people”. “But now I understand that it’s not their fault they’re on the street.”

Aoife agrees, saying: “I always thought they became homeless because they wasted all their money. But I learned that there are lots of different ways – family issues, they can’t afford it anymore, and losing jobs. It made me realise that people less fortunate than me have been through a lot.”

Schools have always played an important role in charitable fundraising – Red Nose Day, bake sales and non-uniform days are integral to growing up in Britain. But, as Pitchford points out (without wanting to denigrate bake sales), children often don’t understand what they are raising money for.

“That’s missing a trick because it means that they’re not able to run with it when they’re not in school,” the headteacher says. “We laid the groundwork for the entire project by teaching the children about the issues in an appropriate way.”

As the children go round the circle answering questions, they occasionally wave at their friends through the glass door of the library. There is lots going on – it is Bastille Day when Big Issue visits the school and they have spent the morning parading French flags and eating French food. It is also very hot and two days before the summer holidays. But despite this, they stay immersed in our conversation.

Leann Valiquette, deputy head teacher at St Mary’s, says she is “immensely proud”.

“We have no doubt that when they leave us and they go on into the world they are going to know what to do. They’re going to stand up to injustice. They’re going to advocate for themselves and other people. I’m very hopeful for the future.”

It is not the first time St Mary’s has gone above and beyond to help people. It is a school of sanctuary, recognised for welcoming refugees, and has sponsored two Syrian families to come to the UK.

They hosted events for refugee families with a magician, theatre performance and free food and hygiene products. Teachers created a new curriculum and each year group had a book to read around displacement.

“Part of our role in the community is to change hearts and minds, and I think we’ve been successful,” Valiquette says. “Our big next step would be to support other schools to do something similar, because at the heart of every community, there is a primary school. We would be very willing to support and offer the planning details for everything we’ve done.”

There are around 30,000 schools in the UK – 10 times as many people are facing homelessness. No one is suggesting school pupils are responsible for tackling the housing crisis, but the children at St Mary’s are setting an example and even have a few ideas for the government.

Seven-year-old Pip says softly that if he was prime minister, he would give most of his money to people living on the streets and would put a little bit of his money towards building homes. 

Neves, aged 10, agrees but points out: “The tricky thing is, caring about one thing and then forgetting about the rest. I don’t want people to all of a sudden not have access to ambulances. It would be hard but I think homelessness would be my first priority.”

Crisis estimated that ending and preventing homelessness in the UK would cost around £19.3billion, but it would ultimately save £53.9bn in other areas – so the kids are onto something.

Like the government, they want to build more homes, so what would these look like in a dream scenario? Stella has big ideas. “I would ask them their favourite colour and then would ask some builders to paint it that colour. It would be happy. I would give them fresh food, clothes, water and a car. And I would make sure it was very safe and has a good security system.”

Aoife wants to paint her house blue like the sky, while Tilly suggests pink and purple with a rainbow roof, and Pip wants his to be green, his favourite colour. 

“I’m going to go into more detail,” Neves says. Her dream house has an especially comfortable mattress, a kitchen filled with food, and a bookshelf in the bedroom.

But the children realise it’s not material items that make a home. “My favourite thing about my home is that I live with people that I love. They always show me respect,” Neves says.

The others agree. Stella says: “My favourite thing about my home is my lovely family and all my teddies. When it’s bed time, they read me a story, and they always come up and check on me. They make me feel safe and happy and warm.”

There are more than 160,000 children facing homelessness in the UK – living in temporary accommodation. The older children at St Mary’s have been taught that temporary accommodation might be a place to live, but that doesn’t make it a home.

“It’s just sad,” says Fred. “You feel sad and bad for them.”

Tilly echoes him, saying: “It makes me feel veeery veeery disappointed. When they’re sleeping, it’s probably very hard on the floor. They don’t have much stuff to eat. They don’t have much money.”

Neves says she too is “disappointed, sad and angry”, while Aiofe adds: “I feel grateful but sad at the same time. They haven’t got anyone. But I have got hope too. I’m happy that this school wants to help and I hope other schools will do the same thing, because we need all the help that we can get to help people off the streets.”

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