St Petroc's People. Portrait Project

Roscoe Communications was appointed to provide marketing and communications support to People. - an ambitious and innovative project giving voice to people in Cornwall who have struggled with housing insecurity or homelessness since the start of the pandemic led by St Petrocs, a charity supporting adults in Cornwall struggling with housing, facing or experiencing homelessness.

People. will share the experiences of almost 70 people interviewed across Cornwall this summer through an indoor and outdoor photographic portrait exhibition, website and book, and aims to challenge negative societal stereotypes by stating that all people deserve homes.

The project is a collaboration with the people of Cornwall who are being invited to help stage the outdoor exhibition, running in parallel with an exhibition at the Royal Cornwall Museum.

Event organisers are looking for locations to host one of the exhibition portraits – calling for members of the public and local businesses to display a portrait outside their homes and businesses.

A number of high-profile partners are already lined up including the Eden Project, Krowji, Kresen Kernow and Truro Cathedral.

The innovative St Petrocs project is a unique collaboration with social documentary photographer Gavan Goulder and community arts organisation StreetDraw24 – who are all working together to shine a light on an issue that increasingly affects the whole of the UK.

The team heard many heart-breaking stories of living on the streets or in cars or vans, of facing eviction, sofa-surfing or living with extended family in cramped conditions and more, as well as uplifting advice on how to survive tough times.

Thirty people were also photographed to dramatically underline the negative impact of housing insecurity and homelessness on a wide range of people in rural and urban settings.

The exhibitions will take place in November and December and hope to encourage anyone experiencing similar issues to seek support as early as possible and to see St Petrocs as an organisation to help prevent homelessness - not just there to help when the worst happens.