FLACK Cambridge is a Registered Charity No: 1136657 Citylife House, Sturton St, Cambridge, CB1 2QF
01223 366532 info@flackcambridge.org.uk
THE FLACK EFFECT April - Dec 2012
Writers have written, artists have painted, musicians played, poets performed, friendships made and lives repaired.
For every £1 donated to FLACK we returned at least £3 in savings to the public purse and social value.
based on Gov’t figures on costs
associated with the blight of homelessness
6868 hours contributed by 57 homeless members
3164 hours contributed by 36 volunteers from the wider community
21 homeless people published in FLACK magazine
13 FLACK members gaining employment with FLACK or elsewhere
53 members reporting improved self-esteem and confidence
9 members reporting reduced alcohol/substance misuse
14 members reporting improved mental health
Fascination
Loyalty
Acceptance
Courage
Knowledge
Hi ! I’m a FLACK peer and one of the original members of the FLACK community. I remember the old days when the magazine was made guerrilla style on a laser printer! 500 hand crafted 16 page pilots were distributed amongst the homeless services in Cambridge. An alchemy of visionary thinking plus blood sweat and tears has become the seven-days-a-week professional outfit FLACK is today. How far we’ve come. FLACK is my school, my workplace, where I meet friends and where I make wonderful new ones.
Recovering from homelessness; essentially the breakdown of one’s whole life, is one of the most challenging journeys a person can undertake. Service-wise the emphasis is on your housing need rather than the psychological support that is key to adjusting from homeless to housed. I have a great support worker but she can only do so much!
Battered self-esteem, lack of identity, fear of responsibility and low confidence drags you down and keeps you down! Homelessness separated me from my potential. Thanks to FLACK I now believe in a brighter future where I’m useful, reliable and an asset.
Frankly, I’m brimming with pride and gratitude to have not only witnessed FLACK’s progress, but to have grown, in my own life, along side it. It genuinely chokes me up with emotion to think of where I was when it all began and where I am now. Thank you for reading this!
I’m completely in love with the feeling of connecting to a readership. FLACK made that experience happen for me and for that I’m eternally in their debt.
Jude Evans
more than a magazine
