Image: 

 

 

On Wednesday 18 September 2019 the Lord Mayor of Belfast, John Finucane, unveiled a mural created by homeless families on the city’s famous International Wall.

The mural is one of a number in Belfast created by the campaign group to raise awareness of 15,000 children who are officially homeless and drawing attention to the group’s key demands to help solve the housing crisis. He said:

“We see the numbers that are stark and should serve as an embarrassment and a stain on the reputation of this city. 

“Because to have anybody who is homeless is a shame to this city, but to have 15000 children who are homeless is something that we should all be cognisant of.

“I don’t think this mural can get enough attention and I am very mindful of the fact that there’s a sign here to encourage people to take pictures to post it, to spread awareness. And we see the message on the wall behind us as well. 

"We need more homes on Mackie’s."

Jenna Woodside is a young campaigner who has been impacted by homelessness. Jenna addressed a full council meeting recently calling for action and has since been engaging councillors to secure support for the #BuildHomesNow objectives. She said:

“It sends out a very good message that the Mayor of our city and city councillors are launching this mural with us today. With the housing crisis affecting more of our citizens as time goes on, we ask our councillors to stand with us, show your support & help fight child homelessness by supporting more adequate social housing for all.”

Ryan Mc Quillan is a young campaigner and youth worker who will be travelling to South Africa next week to learn about the impacts of discrimination in housing policy. He said:“The lack of housing and housing inequality has segregated the most vulnerable members of our community for far too long – those in power have a very simple job to do – the stress of the people they are meant to look after is a clear indication that they are not doing it properly.”

Elfie Seymour from PPR explained:

“It is very welcome to see growing support for #BuildHomesNow from all quarters. This mural was created by young people who were frustrated by business as usual; some have come to Belfast through the vulnerable Syrian resettlement scheme and been housed in horrible conditions by private landlords.

“Others spent years of their childhood waiting for a home that was never built. 15,000 children suffer in these conditions while land and property lie empty all over the city.

“Just up the road is the Mackies site – massive vacant public land in the area of highest housing need. If this land is not committed to help tackle the housing crisis then serious questions need to be asked of decision makers and officials.”

Belfast City Council are currently consulting on the future of the Mackies site. See our briefing on this here: https://issuu.com/ppr-org/docs/build_homes_now._a_briefing_for_bel.

There is currently a call for independent enquiry into the planning processes which have permitted large retail at Hillview North Belfast. Full briefing at: https://issuu.com/p

pr-org/docs/rev_fn_hillview_independent_inquiry.

There is a call for government bodies to ensure Syrian Families resettled locally into private accommodation. A full briefing on this can be found here: https://issuu.com/ppr-org/docs/we_came_here_for_sanctuary_report_-.