This story is part of our Stories of Impact series, spotlighting our Fellows who, through socially engaged arts, work with communities across Europe to confront the past, respond to present challenges, and co-create futures grounded in care, solidarity, and collective thriving. Here, Samra talks us through how their work brings positive change on people, projects, and homelessness policy.
Born out of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, Arts & Homelessness International was inspired by the power of art to transform the lives of those who are or have been homeless. I believe art plays a vital role in health and wellbeing and should be normalised within homelessness support, and I was drawn to the organisation by its commitment to equity, creativity, and community-led change.
Arts & Homelessness International aims to create systemic change by placing lived experience at the centre of policy-making, drawing on socially engaged arts to transform how institutions listen and act. We work across summits, festivals, international exchanges, training programmes, and artistic collaborations, with an emphasis on nurturing cultural leaders and publishing field-defining research.
Our global network of more than 500 members has reached over 8,000 people with experience of homelessness, helped hundreds get into paid work, and influenced homelessness strategies across the UK.
Through arts and creativity, we collaborate with people with lived experience of homelessness to shape change across projects and policy. Working alongside artists, cultural institutions, global networks, funders, policy-makers and sector partners, we co-create more equitable and effective responses to homelessness.
At the centre of all our work are the people who are or have been homeless. We passionately believe in co-creation: half of Arts & Homelessness International’s board, staff and project leaders have experienced homelessness, and we make sure every project is shaped by first-hand knowledge.
One of our main methodologies is Legislative Theatre, a fun and creative participatory democracy process where real-life stories shape policy discussions to advocate for better policy and practice. A strong example is our co-created Belfast Legislative Theatre project, which aimed to prevent homelessness for women experiencing domestic abuse in Northern Ireland. The project was commissioned by Housing Rights and delivered in partnership with The People Act, and North Down & Ards Women’s Aid.
The co-created play, performed by experts with lived experience — women with first-hand experience of domestic abuse and homelessness — took place in 2025 and led to concrete changes from policymakers including:
- The Northern Ireland Housing Executive appointed 2-3 Domestic Abuse Leads in each of their local offices and rolled out awareness training for frontline staff
- The Police Service of Northern Ireland expanded training on evidence-led prosecutions and court order enforcement for domestic abuse cases
- Funding was secured for a six-month Housing Rights pilot to develop a bespoke housing advice service for people experiencing domestic abuse with the hope of further expansion to include peer delivery.
Crucially, the work did not end on the day of the performance. Regular tracking and follow-up were established to monitor progress on policy commitments, ensuring accountability and transparency. This ongoing engagement sustains momentum, strengthens trust between experts with lived experience, policymakers, and advocates, and creates space for more equitable, human-centred policy and practice. It also reinforces the role of theatre and storytelling in building shared understanding, while contributing to a cultural shift in how statutory organisations support people experiencing domestic abuse. We are incredibly proud that this work was also recently shortlisted for the 2026 SMK National Campaigner Awards in the Creative Change-makers category.
Through our work, we have seen the power and impact that socially engaged arts practices can have on people and across society. By centring lived experience and creativity, we can inform policy, protect cultural freedoms, and support more equitable and human-centred systems. We hope that as the practice continues to evolve and strengthen, it can help build a more inclusive and just European culture, countering the growing threat of far-right politics.
Explore more stories of socially engaged arts driving change across Europe. View the Stories of Impact map here.
