John Donne got it right. No man is an island, entire of itself. We are all dependent on each other in some way, and what affects one of us today may well affect the next person tomorrow. Take homelessness as an example. In fact, with many people unable to pay the rent if they found themselves unemployed, it is said that we are just one pay cheque away from being homeless.
One man who has always been a passionate advocate for the homeless is poet Andrew Mears. Having donated to foodbanks and hosted events to avoid food waste, helping those in need has always been something Andrew is keen to do. As a result, he has recently combined his desire to help others with what he is good at: using poetry in an impactful way.
Early inspiration
Andrew’s journey into poetry began in 2022. At the time he had just retired and, having heard of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, wrote a poem called ‘Thank you, Ma’am’ in recognition of her service as head of the armed forces (Andrew is a veteran of the Navy himself). Following on from that, he wrote a poem from the point of view of her son, Charles, and soon discovered that he had a passion for poetry. Andrew then started attending creative writing courses and, after some encouragement from a friend who could see his talent, decided to publish his poems. To date, he has written three books: A Glimpse of Life, Expressions of Life, and Return, the last being to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. He was also shortlisted in Poetry Tyne, a competition organised by North Tyneside Libraries.
As well as writing his own poems, Andrew runs a monthly open mic variety night at Wallsend Social Club. This allows anyone who would like to share their words to do so. It is a fun-filled evening with acts that range from poets and comedians to singing groups, all of whom enjoy the spoken word.
And yet it was a trip to Newcastle’s Quayside that prompted Andrew to consider his next project. Whilst out one day walking his dog, he noticed a sign on a litter bin calling for homelessness to be eradicated by 2022. The fact that this had already passed got him thinking, so, after some consideration, he came up with the idea of helping the homeless in the North East by producing an anthology of poetry: Words on a NE Street.
Resilience pays off
Of course, putting an anthology together can be a steep learning curve. Homelessness is an emotive issue, and getting enough submissions in the early days was a challenge. However, giving up was never an option. Indeed, as the poet Edgar Albert Guest wrote: Don’t give up, whate’er you do; Eyes front, head high to the finish. See it through! And that is exactly what Andrew has done. Having received some early submissions, the word about his anthology then spread, leading to more people wanting to help. He has now managed to collate the work of 100 local poets with the aim of raising money for various homeless charities across the North East.
In addition to raising funds for the North East, there is scope for the concept to spread by allowing other people to create more anthologies for other areas in the UK, such as Words on a Liverpool Street or Words on a Birmingham Street. The aim is to get people talking about homelessness with a view to solving it differently, therefore creating hope for the future, or, as Emily Dickinson so eloquently put it: Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all. Indeed, when it comes to what is important, we must never lose hope. We must keep on singing that tune.
Andrew’s initiative in producing an anthology shows how working together creatively can bring us one step closer to solving homelessness. Sometimes it takes just one person with a bit of initiative to make the first step, go down a different road. The road less travelled by, as Robert Frost put it, does make all the difference.
