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Charity collaborates with street artists to help homeless kids get off the street

Depaul UK, the youth homelessness charity, has enlisted a group of graffiti artists to create street art that tells young peoples’ stories, with the aim of helping them off the streets. The collaboration is part of a campaign for the charity by Publicis called “Don’t Let Their Stories End on The Streets”.

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Street art mural featuring a young person's face with text describing their experience of homelessness, part of Depaul UK's campaign to help homeless youth

Each artwork appears as a mural situated in Dalston and Shoreditch in East London. Young homeless people were interviewed and their real life stories were used to inspire the artists. Each artwork gives an insight into the factors that led to a young homeless person’s current situation.

As well as the physical street art, the campaign involves a ‘digital wall’ featuring the artworks at the dedicated website streetstories.org.uk. You can get involved by visiting the site and buying a section of the digital wall, which will result in that part of the digital wall getting ‘cleaned’. This symbolises the fact that by donating, people are helping to remove a part of a homeless person’s story from the street.

Visitors who buy a section of the digital wall will also receive a limited edition screen-print of the artwork signed by the artist who created it. Artists involved include Ben Slow, David Shillnglaw, Best Ever, Josh Jeavons and Jim McElvany. All of them donated their time for free for the campaign.

Vibrant blue and yellow mural on a street wall featuring a stylised head with text about homelessness, part of Depaul UK's campaign telling young people's stories
Street art mural featuring a sketched portrait and handwritten text describing a young person's experience of homelessness in London, part of Depaul UK's campaign for the charity
Blue street art mural depicting multiple faces with text reading "It started when I was 13", "The harm's not big day is enough" and "Mum" as part of Depaul UK's homelessness awareness campaign in East London
Colourful mural on a London street showing illustrated figures with text about homelessness, part of Depaul UK's street art campaign to help young people off the streets
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