A NEW library has been set up to highlight the stories of homeless people across the country.

The Homeless Library is at The Dome in Brighton.

It was set up by Philip Davenport and Lois Blackburn, of Arthur and Martha, a group that uses art and writing to help communities across the UK.

Philip said: “A lot of our projects are about working with people to give them a distraction if their lives are difficult.”

The idea for the Homeless Library started in 2014.

Philip had been working with the homeless for many years before then but wanted to be able to give these people the opportunity to share their stories.

He said: “The history of homelessness is often a history of invisibility, of problems being ignored. What we try to do with this library, which has been put together by contemporary homeless people themselves, is put it at the centre of things so it can no longer be ignored.”

He said it brought him great joy to hand-make the books with the people who have written them, saying they offer a “fragile” look into their lives.

It is hoped the array of written work collected by Philip and Lois will help the public see the homeless the way they see any other human being.

Philip said hearing these stories made him see the world in a different way.

He said: “I was touched by meeting people who had lived very different kind of lives to me, but that had incredible significance.

“I have been privileged to hear some amazing stories of people’s lives.

“Some are very inspiring, some are very heart-breaking and I feel that it has increased the breadth of my human experience.

“It opened my head to other possibilities and it also made me realise there are as many different experiences of homelessness as there are homeless people themselves.”

Philip hopes the exhibition will help to educate the public into the lives of the people they pass on the street every day.

He said: “I think these are an amazing range of human experiences.

“Some are almost like war stories and others are of compassion and friendship.

“They show that homeless people have a lot to offer in terms of experience and if it can be understood it can help everybody else.”

The Homeless Library is in the cafe bar at the Dome until Sunday, July 22, and all are welcome to drop in.

On the opposite page we carry an excerpt from one of the books showcased at the Homeless Library, the story of Lawrence McGill.