all i need is a home

HOMELESSNESS – 50 years on and nothing’s changed.

As an 18 year old from Lancashire, I arrived in London in 1968 with little more than a guitar, sleeping in bus shelters, walking the streets by night, looking for gigs by day. Eventually I joined a band who had a house with a floor I could sleep on! All I Need Is A Home was first recorded on my debut solo album for Island Records. 50 years later, seeing myself in the faces of the homeless on our streets today and the painful rejection of the passers by looking the other way, I re-recorded the song for this new video. Over the decades since I first came to London I’ve worked as a session guitarist, toured with top bands, recorded 22 of my own albums, and for the 35 years have been taking my music in prisons across the country. I see first hand the revolving door of prison and homelessness. It is such a tragic waste of precious human life. There are some great initiatives out there from charities. The Government’s response is to build more executive style homes, but if you have no money you can’t afford them. And if you haven’t got a home you can’t get a bank account or a job and start contributing to society.

• DONATE to one of these great charities

• Renewed Hope our local charity. Is there one near you that needs help?
• Green Pastures – together, the Church can help end homelessness, and transform lives. 5 easy ways you can help
• Church Homeless Charity grants for homeless people to help them get back on their feet – donate
• Hope Into Action – enabling churches to house the homeless
• The Macari Foundation ‘beautiful pods’
• Housing Justice Wales
• Jimmy’s Cambridge modular homes
• Housing Justice Manchester
• The Big Issue next time you see a seller, stop and buy a copy
• The Salvation Army
• and many other wonderful charities including:
• St Mungos
• Emmaus UK
• Shelter
• Crisis
• Centrepoint
• Leatherhead Start