Written and Photographed by Ryan Lee
Second-year Politics student Jack Baker still remembers the day he walked by a familiar spot on campus. It was just outside of Shaw Cafe in CKK, at the corner of Kingsway and Sardinia Street. A man would be there, sitting and sleeping. But on this particular day, a sign marked his place –– a sign for the man’s vigil.
It was the death of a homeless man outside CKK last year. “He would always stay there, and then he wasn’t there one day,” Jack said. “That was the trigger for me.”
For second-year Law student Ruby Sweetman, Jack’s “trigger” was an issue that hit close to home. Born in Whitechapel, she grew up in a family that emphasised budgeting and giving back to the community. Although Ruby herself was raised middle-class, her grandparents and mother had lived in temporary housing, leaving their family with a core lesson: “Never forget what it’s like to be poor.”
Together, Jack and Ruby’s experiences led to the new student society, LSESU Homeless Action Society, where Jack now sits as president and Ruby as secretary. For Ruby, their goal was to provide what, in her view, LSE was missing when it came to addressing homelessness: “A more grassroots organisation.”
Homeless Action’s first term has been headlined by their Giving Tuesday initiative, ‘Clothes for Christmas, a clothing donation drive for the homeless. Working with the LSE Volunteer Centre and eight different academic departments, Homeless Action collected clothes from 25 November to 6 December 2024. Jack specified that donations are scheduled to be collected and distributed to a network of food banks and clothing banks in Camden or Westminster, although the ultimate destinations are yet to be finalised.
At times, the society’s growing pains were starkly visible. At Homeless Action’s Giving Tuesday booth, Jack expressed dismay that there weren’t as many clothes as he had hoped. But simultaneously, the two leaders were pleasantly surprised by the wide student interest throughout their first term as a society. Ruby reflected upon their initial worries about membership numbers, volunteer turnout and their budget to sustain society initiatives – something that she does not lose too much sleep over now.
“I feel that something like [Homeless Action] gives a sober reality or a different perspective,” she said when asked about the organisation’s appeal to the student body. Ruby juxtaposed Homeless Action with “the LSE bubble,” which she defines as an environment that is “so fast-paced, so commercial-heavy and money focused”.
The contrast was stark with her secondary school life in Norwich. She tried to tone down her assertiveness – “I’m not trying to be too political,” Ruby led off. But her diction soon sharpened into a more serious tone as she detailed her observations: shopfronts closing, food banks being overwhelmed and a general lack of resources. The 2019 English Indices of Deprivation rank Norwich as 61st most deprived out of 317 English local authority districts, well above the national median.
“I have known many, many friends and many neighbours who have really struggled and [know] how close the poverty line is,” Ruby said. “For a lot of people, it’s seen as this kind of mystical thing, but it is so easy to slip below it.”
LSE was an insulated environment in Ruby’s eyes. She discussed various reasons for this, from the amount of funding societies receive, to the sheer amount of wealth some students have. “Just 100 meters away, there are people at night, every night, looking for food trucks, food [and] shelter,” she said. “It was a culture shock coming here.”
Jack also noted a contrast between home and LSE, but one coming from the opposite direction. Born and raised in Surrey, Jack’s move to London exposed him to a drastically different environment.
“There’s not really a lot of homelessness [in Surrey],” he said, pointing out the relative wealth of the area. According to the Surrey County Council’s 2024 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, Surrey’s rate of homeless households is less than half of the English average. “Moving to London, you see [homelessness] firsthand.”
Jack and Ruby’s work was sparked by a convergence of interests, each with their unique backgrounds, stories to tell and sources of motivation. But as they round the corner on their first term, they also share dismay toward the de-prioritisation of homelessness, and a vision to tackle this in politics.
“It’s not an election-winning issue, is it?” Ruby questioned, referring to unresponsive politicians and speaker events that have been cancelled this term. “We’ve had lots of conflicts with diaries, and there are bigger issues or more publicised issues that they [potential speakers] could go to… a student homelessness society is not going to take the top [spot].”
Instead, the two students envision a future where they bring homelessness as an agenda closer to Westminster. “Charities are great, but they exist because of failure,” Jack asserted. “My ultimate dream would be to go into politics.”
“Personally, I’ve grown up very political,” Ruby added. “The natural path of law is to become a lawyer, but I would love to do something more political, or at least go into a more political sphere of law, or something to do with the civil service.”
Ultimately, Jack and Ruby see two possible visions for Homeless Action as an organisation on campus, first as an organisation with a strong membership and student appeal. Before ‘Clothes for Christmas’ even concluded, Homeless Action began making plans for the upcoming term, and even years ahead.
For the politically-minded, Jack and Ruby expressed strong intentions to expand speaker events, engaging in the policy sphere and possibly even lobbying MPs. For the philanthropically- minded, Homeless Action’s short-term goals are to create tangible change on a local level.
“We want to set up a social hub,” Jack said, calling it “the big flagship project” that Homeless Action wants to start by the new year. With SU funding (application pending), a semi-permanent space will be set up on campus for weekly hot drinks, socialising and helping the local rough-sleeping population seek the support they need.
Ruby spoke with confidence about transitional continuity of their society, even following their departure. “There’s an established membership of this year, which will carry over to next year, and [we’re] working with other societies as well to get frequent volunteers.”
But the second, more long-term future that these students see is paradoxical: they dream of a day when the UK doesn’t need Homeless Action anymore.
“As a society, I think we’re trying to support charities that were already overstretched… maybe it is grassroots action through students now that has to make up the bits missing,” Ruby admitted. “But hopefully one day, if there’s sufficient funding and action from the government, our role won’t be that significant anymore.”
Frustrated, Jack juxtaposed the affluence of British society with the number of rough sleepers, expressing anger at the government for allowing homelessness to spike.
He bluntly characterised Homeless Action: “What we do is great,” he said. “But it should not need to happen.”
