We all have a right to good health. Listening to people with experience of homelessness about the issues they have faced when accessing healthcare is key to finding solutions. In the first episode of the Primary Share podcast series, hear from Listen Up! community reporters Mahesh, Yves, Shift, Mat and Mark. They talk about their experiences of accessing primary care with Dr Caroline Shulman, leading clinician and researcher in homeless and inclusion health. Primary Share is a new podcast series from the Listen Up! project at Groundswell. Head to www.groundswell-listenup-hub.org to listen to other podcasts and more stories from Listen Up! community reporters Listen Up! is a lived experience-led storytelling project funded by Comic Relief and in partnership with On Our Radar. Our goal is to champion major change towards better healthcare access and life expectancy for people facing homelessness. Find out about the Listen Up! project at https://groundswell.org.uk/listenup/ #Health #Homelessness

Following the Red Nose Day appeal which saw Prince William in conversation with Groundswell volunteer reporters Miles and Nawshin on their ‘Listen Up!' podcast, the full episode has been released discussing the issues around homelessness and how listening to stories can challenge misconceptions. Photo credit: credit Comic Relief/Daniel Loveday.

Title: Is it possible to fully recover? What aids recovery? Is recovery only about addiction? How do the views of others impact recovery? What does recovery look like? Can we recover on our own? These questions, and others like it, were pondered when Listen Up!’s community reporters met in 2022 to think about Recovery Month which takes place every September. Miles and Nawshin are community reporters with the Listen Up project; a lived experience-led project, kickstarting major change towards better healthcare access and life expectancy for people facing homelessness. In this podcast, Miles and Nawshin share their experiences of addiction, recovery, health, mental health and homelessness giving hope to others and sharing what helped them get through. Content warning this podcast contains content that some may find distressing. Listen Up! is a Groundswell and On Our Radar project, supported by Comic Relief.

Is it possible to fully recover? What aids recovery? Is recovery only about addiction? How do the views of others impact recovery? What does recovery look like? Can we recover on our own? These questions, and others like it, were pondered when Listen Up!’s community reporters met in 2022 to think about Recovery Month which takes place every September. Mat is a project officer and Mashesh a community reporter with the Listen Up project; a lived experience-led project, kickstarting major change towards better healthcare access and life expectancy for people facing homelessness. In this podcast, Mat and Mahesh share their experiences of addiction, recovery, mental health and homelessness giving hope to others and sharing what helped them get through. Content warning this podcast contains content that some may find distressing. Listen Up! is a Groundswell and On Our Radar project, supported by Comic Relief.

 Is it possible to fully recover? What aids recovery? Is recovery only about addiction? How do the views of others impact recovery? What does recovery look like? Can we recover on our own? Karen and Laura are community reporters with the Listen Up project; a lived experience-led project, kickstarting major change towards better healthcare access and life expectancy for people facing homelessness. In this podcast, Karen and Laura share their experiences of addiction, recovery, mental health and homelessness giving hope to others and sharing what helped them get through. Content warning this podcast contains content that some may find distressing. Listen Up! is a Groundswell and On Our Radar project, supported by Comic Relief. 

This podcast has been inspired by a research project conducted on behalf of Fulfilling Lives Lambeth Southwark and Lewisham; a nationwide project funded by the National Lottery Community fund that aims to support people with multiple disadvantage. It tests new ways of ensuring individuals receive joined up and person-led services which work for them. Multiple disadvantage in this case refers to people who experience challenges with mental-ill health, substance use, homelessness or contact with the criminal justice system. In the podcast you will hear from the expert by experience group who have guided this research and who talk about their own experience of multiple disadvantage, you will also hear quotes from participants in the research and questions from the general public. This is the second of two podcasts – the first podcast is ‘The Missing Piece’. **Just as a warning there may be content in the podcast that some listeners may find upsetting.

This podcast has been inspired by a research project conducted on behalf of Fulfilling Lives Lambeth Southwark and Lewisham. Fulfilling Lives in a nationwide project funded by the national lottery community fund that aims to support people with multiple disadvantage. It tests new ways of ensuring individuals receive joined up and person-led services which work for them. Multiple disadvantage in this case refers to people who experience challenges with mental-ill health, substance use, homelessness or contact with the criminal justice system. In the podcast you will hear from the expert by experience group who have guided this research and who talk about their own experience of multiple disadvantage, you will also hear quotes from participants in the research which are read out by the experts by experience and questions from the general public. This is the first of two podcasts – the second podcast is out on the 7thJuly and called ‘Listen to Me’. **Just as a warning there may be content in the podcast that some listeners may find upsetting.

This podcast is based on research conducted by volunteers with experience of homelessness which explores the connection between benefits, health and homelessness. It illustrates how poor health can compound the challenges navigating the benefits system for people experiencing homelessness. This podcast features the voices of Groundswell staff and volunteers and is funded by Trust for London.

Over the last few months COVID-19 and the response to the pandemic has had a significant impact on people experiencing homelessness. The researchers and mobile reporters have made a podcast exploring peoples experiences so far. Groundswell have been working alongside people experiencing homelessness to ensure their views and experiences are represented and acted on. Our reference group of people with experience of homelessness have been critical in the delivery of this research project. One member of the reference group said: “Overall, my experience being involved with the COVID reference group has been very good. It has been wonderful being from the grassroots level and being able to feed my thoughts from my own experiences of being homeless and other personal involvement in other ways. It has been facilitated well and everyone involved had something to say which has been taken seriously and in the majority of time, have been implemented to some degree. Overall, I would genuinely give this project a full house of five stars” We want to ensure the insights from this project are communicated widely and reach a range of people, including people experiencing homelessness, people from the homelessness sector and key decision makers. The reference group have made a podcast to share the insights from the research. The voices of our reference group and some of the Groundswell team feature in this podcast – the stories they share are based on real accounts of people who have participated in our research project so far. “I really enjoyed taking part in the recording for the podcast. It was fun. It was a bit strange to hear myself in the podcast, but it was interesting. I sounded very different than I would have imagined” “Taking part in the reference group helped me to stay in contact with others and even meet new people. This made me feel less lonely during lock-down. It allowed me to be involved in something useful and meaningful. It gave me something useful to do. It was empowering being part of the process having my voice heard. I also liked being informed about what was happening. I felt that knowing what was happening helped me to deal with anxiety, as being unsure makes me anxious” The insights featured illustrate just some of the ways people experiencing homelessness have been impacted and we are working hard to continue to reach people and hear their story. 

Working with our volunteers – people who have slept rough and those residing in hostels and temporary accommodation - Groundswell has developed resources to support people experiencing homelessness during the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. People experiencing homelessness are disproportionately affected by poor health and often face challenges accessing the healthcare and support they need. Measures being taken to combat the spread of coronavirus are likely to impact significantly on the lives of people who are homeless. This podcast features adaptation on the Government's coronavirus guidance, so it is relevant to people who are rough sleeping and people who are living in shared temporary accommodation such as hostels. We have also produced short, printable guides with this guidance that can be found here: https://groundswell.org.uk/coronavirus/.

The prevalence of suicide amongst the homeless community is disproportionate to that of the general population. As part of the Comic Relief funded 'From the Ground Up' partnership between Groundswell and the Pavement magazine, volunteers with experience of homelessness were trained as peer journalists. They researched different organisations (Samaritans, CALM, #deardistressed, Maytree, Mind, For Professionals, Storm) offering advice and counselling to people who found themselves feeling suicidal. You can read the accompanying Pavement magazine here: https://groundswell.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Suicide-Feature-Edition.pdf

Working whilst homeless was something the peer journalists wanted to explore - controversial yet seemingly common necessity for many people experiencing homelessness, despite their difficult circumstances. For most people working while homeless is really tough. But for others having a job, or regular volunteering, can help you stay afloat and integrate you into society. This podcast, created by volunteer peer journalists trained through the Comic Relief funded 'From the Ground Up' partnership between Groundswell and the Pavement magazine, explores the issues and realities of working whilst homeless. You can read the accompanying Pavement magazine here: https://groundswell.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2019-jan-Feb-1.pdf

People often say, “It’s such a shame that people are homeless and sleeping on the street”, but how does shame affect people who are homeless? What impact does shame have on the lives of those experiencing the realities of homelessness? And does society project its own feelings of shame about homelessness, on to people who are homeless? This podcast was created as part of the Comic Relief funded 'From the Ground Up' partnership between Groundswell and the Pavement magazine, volunteers with experience of homelessness were trained as peer journalists.You can read the accompanying Pavement magazine here: https://groundswell.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Pavementmainrun121JulAug19V5FinalWeb.pdf

In this podcast, we report how difficult it is to get help when you have a dual diagnosis, the medical term used when you have both mental health and addiction issues at the same time. This podcast is part of the Comic Relief funded 'From the Ground Up' partnership between Groundswell and the Pavement magazine, volunteers with experience of homelessness were trained as peer journalists. You can read the accompanying Pavement magazine here: https://groundswell.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Jan-Feb-2018-The-Pavement-Shame-Feature-Edition.pdf.

Stigma plays a big part in the narrative around homelessness and the complex stories that land people in the situation. This podcast is recorded as part of the Comic Relief funded 'From the Ground Up' partnership between Groundswell and the Pavement magazine, where volunteers are trained to become peer journalists. Here they explore the stigma surrounding homelessness. 

“Many women feel they have nowhere to turn so often return to an abusive relationship, whether it be mental, sexual or violent,” says Jean in this podcast. “They may turn to alcohol or drugs, or sink into a deep depression, as they can see no way out. And there is the constant feeling of guilt and fear – the worry that children can be taken away from them at any time, despite trying to do your best. Even asking for help can seem like you are a terrible person or a failure.” This podcast is the explores issues directly relating to women who are experiencing homelessness - led by a group of women who know what its like. The podcast was created as part of the Comic Relief funded 'From the Ground Up' partnership between Groundswell and the Pavement magazine. You can read the accompanying Pavement magazine here: https://groundswell.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Pavement_mainrun_117_NovDec18-Web.pdf. 

This podcast explores the health of women experiencing homelessness in London, directly from the voices of the women themselves. This is based on researched conducted by Groundswell to understand more about the health conditions women are facing and how their housing issues affect their health.