Andrew Mears is a poet who lives in North East England, a region with the country’s worst rates of homelessness. In 2025, he had an idea to recruit 100 writers to write 100 poems about homelessness, compile them in a book, and donate the sales to his neighborhood shelter.
In a matter of months, he self-published the anthology, “Words on a NE Street.” By Christmas, Mears had sold enough copies to donate £4,200 to Newcastle Helping Street Friends — a small nonprofit run by volunteers.
“For me, it’s about getting homelessness in conversations,” Mears told the BBC.
Courtesy of Andrew Mears.
Ruth Parker, the chief executive of Newcastle Helping Street Friends’ Emmaus center, said that the majority of Mears’ donation would ensure that companions — or people who were previously unhoused — can continue getting care through supported housing.
“Meeting Andy [and] his friends and reading the poems has been overwhelming for staff and companions,” Parker said, referencing Mears’ many poetry readings for the center. “The kindness and compassion they have shown gives optimism to the companions, making them feel more positive about their future and being part of a community that cares.”
Andrew Mears poses with a friend. The Red Bench Project/Facebook
In the future, Mears hopes that his book inspires more poets across England to band together and write their own anthologies.
“They can go and run with it, ‘Words on a Liverpool Street,’ or ‘Words on a Birmingham Street,’” Mears said. “Hopefully, this is just the beginning.”
Below is an excerpt from the book, “The Homeless Life” by Margaret Montgomery:
“A vagabond, a vagrant with no fixed abode.
A transient, a tramp, taking the high road.
An itinerant, a swagman, no partner, no one to call brother.
A man of the road, walking heavily, one step in front of the other.
Dispossessed, without a roof, destitute.
Forsaken, down and out, a life of disrepute.
Travelling, labouring or begging, a hobo free from strife.
Such were the semi-romantic notions of the wandering life.
Nowadays, the homeless begging on our city streets,
Are usually young and use the pavements as seats.
Sofa surfing, rough sleeping is what we say today,
Describing a night on a friend’s couch, or lying in a doorway.
There are over one million empty properties in the UK.
It would be easy to turn them into homes, many people say.
Then house the 350,000 people who are in temporary accommodation.
Surely this solution is possible with commitment and a bit of determination.
20,000 squatters already occupy empty offices and shops.
But the problems faced by the 4,000 street sleepers are more difficult to stop.
There are many reasons, and it’s not straightforward why someone ends up on the street.
But anyone there would swap it for a bed in a home in a heartbeat.
When was their path in life determined?
Do some people’s lives start off overburdened?
Is our life’s journey confirmed at birth?
Is it influenced by where we hailed from on earth?
Some people’s hours of labour cannot earn enough,
For a roof over their head and healthy foodstuff.
Another person could have a good job, a good wage,
Enabling them to write a different story on their life’s page.
Is it a question of making a good or bad choice?
Is it important whether you have a ‘listened to’ or a ‘dismissed’ voice?
Does the successful person deserve everything they’ve got?
Does the homeless person deserve their lot?
Seeing people on the streets pulls at my heart strings.
But my sympathy for the homeless doesn’t change things.
My support and donations hardly make an impact.
And years of normalising the sight of street sleepers has remained intact.
It’s shameful that the government can leave people neglected.
They could spend money, give support, so people are respected.
Onlookers may pity the homeless as if it’s a forever state.
But by empowering them we could ensure they have a different fate.”:
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2026 Storytelling Edition of the Good Newspaper.
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