Film partnership sheds light on society’s invisible generation
A leading housing provider has joined forces with a creative film-making partnership to produce a powerful new campaigning video that highlights the growing shortage of homes across the country.
Spire Homes, a successful housing association providing around 5,000 homes throughout Northamptonshire and Rutland, called Inspire 2 Action to help create a hard-hitting film outlining the key housing issues facing the East Midlands, including homelessness and how ongoing economic cuts are threatening to leave thousands of people ‘invisible’ to society.
Inspire 2 Action is a collaboration between Shropshire film production company 7 Video and renowned business consultant, motivational speaker, and author Liam O’Connell. The partnership focuses on producing ‘real life’ emotive footage and documentary-style films that capture human emotion and really engage with audiences in ways that standard corporate videos struggle to match, and it was this particular aspect that Spire Homes, which is renowned for its forward-thinking approach, was keen to embrace.
The resulting video, ‘The Invisibles’, which is almost 20 minutes long, will be used by Spire Homes to lobby key stakeholders and decision-makers about the chronic shortage of homes across rural England, and the thousands of people either currently homeless, facing the real threat of becoming homeless, or living in grossly overcrowded accommodation. Statistics published earlier this autumn by the Department for Communities and Local Government revealed that more than 75,000 children are likely to wake up homeless on Christmas Day 1.
The film will also be a valuable tool in the induction and training of the staff at Spire Homes, giving them a real insight about some of the issues they will deal with on a day-to-day basis and the challenges that lie ahead.
Lynn Stubbs, Director of Business Service for Spire Homes, said “At Spire Homes, we wanted a way to highlight the growing concerns we have for the housing crisis, for our tenants and homelessness - especially with the imminent welfare reform and benefit changes planned by the Government. The film focuses on three of our tenants who we have helped through difficult times in their lives. And it will be great to show key stakeholders and decision makers so they understand the seriousness of the current housing crisis.”
“The whole premise of ‘The Invisibles’ is that anybody from any background can – and in many instances does – become homeless,” Peter Sims, of Inspire 2 Action and a Director of 7 Video, explained. “While many of us take for granted something as simple as having a roof over our heads, in the current economic climate, lots of people aren’t quite so fortunate and really do need our help and support.”
The film focuses on a number of people Spire Homes has been able to help, delving into their deeply personal stories and how homelessness or other struggles in life made them feel, as well as their reactions to having their lives turned around.
Liam O’Connell commented: “The film’s central character is a middle-aged man who had lived a very ‘normal’ life; he was married and had a steady job. But when his marriage fell apart, he first lived in his car for a few months, before spending years homeless on the streets.
“It offers a graphic insight into his struggles, where he’d often wake up with frostbite on his nose or have to rummage through bins in search of leftover food, and describes the feeling of sheer helplessness that being homeless for so long had left him with, a real sense that he had become ‘invisible to society’.”
The film also highlights a number of other individuals and families Spire Homes has been helping to turn around the lives of, each with their own touching tale of how homelessness, disability, or even being made redundant had left them ‘feeling invisible to society’ and having ‘disappeared under the radar’.
Peter Sims revealed: “‘The Invisibles’ also includes the insight of a local street pastor, who had seen for himself the growing number of individuals that, in his words, have simply ‘fallen out of favour and out onto the streets’. Using the medium of video, and capturing the stark reality of life for some of the many people affected by such a serious issue, really does help create a powerful, emotional connection, one that will be an incredibly strong campaigning tool.”
