On Tuesday 4 August, Youth homelessness support service NESAY (North East Support and Action for Youth) unveiled ‘Seats without Shelter’ in King George Gardens, a public installation of 231 empty seats in time for Homelessness Week.

What looked like an assembly of empty plastic lawn chairs in readiness for an event was actually the stories of more than 200 young people experiencing homelessness and who had engaged with NESAY’s services in the past 12 months.  

NESAY adopted this novel initiative to promote homelessness awareness, aiming to provide the community with a better snapshot of what homelessness is and how it manifests.

NESAY chief executive officer Laura Shortis said the installation offered a visual representation of the numbers, figures and statistics attached to homelessness, details which can often lose weight when regurgitated in reports, documents and in the media.

“I really hope it’s an opportunity to expand people’s understanding and their thinking around what that experience of homelessness is,” she said.

The chairs themselves were furnished with quotes, statistics and information to help attendees better understand youth homelessness and the impact it has on young people.

“Our young people, they’re a part of this community, but they don’t consider themselves a valued part of this community,” Ms Shortis said.

“We wanted to put it in a really visible place to be able to show our community here that our young people matter.”

She said the installation also served as an anchor for people to consider the ways the community as a collective can contribute to a broader solution.

“It’s not just an individual piece of funding or program or service that is needed, it [needs] a collective effort,” Ms Shortis said.

“It’s something we should all have value in helping to solve.

“We really thank the community and other partners that we work with in this space and really look forward to engaging with people more.”