Sofa Surfer film highlights Hackney’s ‘hidden’ homelessness

A Hackney-made film about the plight of young homeless people had its inaugural showing at BOXPARK in Shoreditch on Wednesday (21 December). Sofa Surfer is the story of a young woman, JRC, who has spent all of her life living on friends’ and relatives’ sofas.

With support from Hackney charity Off Centre, JRC managed to get into a hostel run by St Martin of Tours. However, only this month people were given notice that the hostel is to close down due to lack of funding.

No one knows the exact numbers but the homeless charity Crisis estimates that there are 400,000 hidden homeless in Great Britain. Young people with nowhere to call home who are forced to sofa surf are among them.

The film Sofa Surfer raises the issue of hidden homelessness and is part of a campaign to call for more safe accommodation for London’s young people.

The campaign is calling on youth organisations to support its demand for more accommodation, and for young people to tell their stories online.

Off Centre is a counselling, therapy, advocacy, advice and information service for young people aged between 11 and 25 who live, work or study in Hackney.

For more information go to Sofa Surfer Film.

Note: this article was amended at 11.15pm Friday 23 December 2011.