Publicis London's Street Corner Posters Show ‘Another Side’ to Homelessness

Depaul, the homelessness charity, has launched a new poster campaign for its Nightstop service, which provides emergency accommodation for homeless people aged 16 to 25.

Nightstop volunteers are ordinary people who help young people in need by giving up a spare room in their homes for a night or two.

Six-sheet posters explaining how the service works will be fly-posted around the corners of buildings in London – the very places homeless youths find themselves without accommodation.

One side of the corner explains the negative preconceptions people have about giving up their spare room to a homeless youth. But when both sides are read together the message transforms, showing the benefits of volunteering. Quite literally, “there is another side to the story”.

The campaign, created by Publicis London, aims to increase the number of Nightstop volunteers by changing perceptions around homelessness and volunteering. 

The campaign’s central message is that the perception of the stereotypical homeless youth battling with drug and drink issues is far from the truth, as is the idea that you have to be a social worker, or go through substantial training, in order to volunteer and help out. 

The three campaign posters appear in locations across London from 2nd April. 

Chief Executive of Depaul UK, Martin Houghton-Brown, said: “Nightstop volunteers are ordinary people helping those with nowhere to stay the night.  More young people than ever are sleeping in unsafe places and we have seen demand for our emergency accommodation services soar over 300% in London last year. We need more volunteers to come forward so we don’t turn people away. That is why we are launching the Street Corners campaign.

“Nightstop has been running for over 20 years and our experience shows it is a safe and positive experience for volunteers and for young people who come to stay. It also helps us make a lasting change in young people’s lives – much more so than a bit of spare change will do. Join in with this fantastic and rewarding work – text us on 70660 and volunteer with Nightstop today.”

People can get involved in the project by texting ‘Nightstop’ and their postcode to 70660.