Museum of Homelessness facts for kids

The Museum of Homelessness (MoH) is a special museum in London, United Kingdom. It was created and is run by people who have experienced homelessness themselves. This museum helps everyone understand what homelessness is like and works to make things better for people without homes.

The museum started in 2014. It was founded by a husband and wife, Matt and Jess Turtle. MoH does four main things:

• It collects items and stories about homelessness in the UK.
• It helps people directly, even running a shelter when the weather is bad.
• It does research and campaigns to make changes.
• It teaches the public through exhibitions and events.

The Museum's Story

The Museum of Homelessness has strong connections with the Simon Community. This is a charity in London that helps people without homes. Many other big charities today, like St Mungo's and Crisis, were influenced by the Simon Community.

MoH works with the Simon Community's old records. They also help people experiencing homelessness in London. The growing number of people without homes in the last ten years helped start the museum. Matt and Jess Turtle got permission to use the Simon Community's history. They also gathered a group of volunteers who had experienced homelessness. This group helped plan the museum's work.

How It Started

One of MoH's founders, Jess Turtle, grew up in a community that helped people without homes. Her parents, Fred Josef and Jane Josef, started it in 1978. This community was named The Wallich-Clifford community, now called The Wallich. It was named after Anton Wallich-Clifford, who founded the Simon Community.

Fred Josef and Anton Wallich-Clifford knew each other well. Fred Josef had been sleeping rough in London in the 1960s. Wallich-Clifford was his probation officer. Fred Josef helped a lot in the early days of the Simon Community. He later started his own project in Cardiff. Jess Turtle's upbringing shaped how MoH works today. It focuses on community principles. Also, Jane Rothery, who helped start The Wallich, was the first leader of MoH's board.

Early Years (2017–2018)

After their first projects, the MoH team got a chance to work with Tate. This is a famous art museum. In April 2017, they launched an event called State of the Nation. This event showed what the homelessness situation was like in 2017.

They worked with many groups and people. For example, they teamed up with artist David Tovey, who had experienced homelessness. They put on a performance called Man on Bench at Tate Modern. MoH also worked with artist Anthony Luvera on his project Frequently Asked Questions.

The State of the Nation program continued in 2017. It included a tour of London's hostels with Cardboard Citizens. In early 2018, the program went to Liverpool. During this time, Sharon Heal, who leads the Museums Association, became the chair of MoH. This made the museum stronger.

MoH also started collecting objects and stories from people across the UK. They wanted to show many different experiences of homelessness. MoH tries to avoid harmful images of homelessness. They share the stories they collect through performances. In late 2018, they showed many object stories in a project called Objectified. This project explored health and homelessness. It was shown in Manchester and became a short film by Dorothy Allen-Pickard, featured by The Guardian newspaper.

Working for Change (2018–2019)

MoH is an independent museum. It does not take money from government contracts. Instead, it works closely with local groups that help people without homes. These include the Outside Project and Streets Kitchen.

In early 2019, MoH announced it wanted a permanent museum space. By spring 2019, it was based at the Outside Project's community center in Clerkenwell Fire Station. MoH worked with groups there to launch Truths of the Last 10 Years in late 2019. This looked back at ten years of increasing homelessness.

The museum speaks out about social issues related to homelessness. In 2019, it took over the Dying Homeless Project. This project was an 18-month investigation started by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. MoH worked with journalist Maeve McClenaghan on this. Today, MoH has a national page remembering people who have died homeless in the UK. It continues to campaign about these deaths. The charity was named a 2020 Big Issue change-maker for its important work.

Before this, MoH also started Catalyst. This was a creative project funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. It brought many new people who had experienced homelessness into the organization. MoH has since worked with well-known campaigners and artists. In October 2017, MoH and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism launched the Dying Homeless project. This project collects data on homeless deaths. It is supported by a group of politicians and works with the Office for National Statistics.

Helping During COVID-19 (2020–Present)

When the UK went into lockdown, MoH teamed up with Streets Kitchen, the Outside Project, Simon Community, and the Union Chapel. They created the COVID-19 Homeless Taskforce. They worked with Islington Council. The taskforce used the Popham and Cumming community center. Over three months, they sent out 8956 meals and care packs. These went to people in Islington and Camden.

Working with Streets Kitchen, MoH also created a plan for homeless people to self-isolate. This helped start the 'Everyone In' program. This government program housed thousands of homeless people during the pandemic. Because of this work, MoH was nominated for an award by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

After the taskforce returned the center to Islington Council, it kept helping people in North London. They did this through their weekly Streetmuseum showcase. In late October 2020, MoH also worked with the Simon Community. They helped with their street work in Westminster after a second national lockdown. As of August 2025, MoH is permanently located at The Manor House Lodge in Finsbury Park. During open seasons, they continue to share stories from their collection.

Research and Learning

MoH's way of working for social fairness has been discussed in books and studies. These explore the role of museums today. For example, their work is mentioned in a book called Museum Activism. Matt and Jess Turtle have also written for other books about museums and social change. Their work was also chosen as an example in the Museums Association's plan for learning and involvement.

See also

• Homelessness in England
• Homelessness in the United Kingdom
• Museums Association
• Simon Community
• National Public Housing Museum