001 Arts and Homelessness, Leadership and Mental Health with Matt Peacock

Matt Peacock is founder and director of Arts and Homelessness International, which aims to bring positive change to people, projects and policy in homelessness, through creativity.

In this episode we talk about:

• The moment that started Matt's journey as founder of Streetwise Opera
• The impact of 2020 on homelessness and the role arts and creativity plays
• How homelessness services are changing to make sure homeless people are at the forefront of the design and delivery of services
• Finding yourself in a position of social change and social action, taking care of yourself and everyone around you
• Living true to your values as an individual and organisation and listening to your instinct
• How Matt's own experiences of mental health have influenced his work and how he puts building blocks in place to operate in a way that's not detrimental to his health
• Creating a co-produced organisational structure
• How work can create stability where there is chaos
• The impact of lone working and how connection and networks are important
• Care and kindness for others
• Being a leader in co-production within the sector and how leadership will be and look different in the future
• Saying focused and knowing that we won't know everything and to just get started
• Returning to a non-negotiable list when feeling lost and not knowing the next step

Links
Arts and Homelessness International: http://www.artshomelessint.com/
Streetwise Opera: https://www.streetwiseopera.org/
Haringey London: https://www.haringey.gov.uk/housing/housing-advice/homelessness
Coventry City Council: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/homelessness
Coventry City of Culture: https://coventry2021.co.uk/
Crisis: https://www.crisis.org.uk/
Underground Lights: https://undergroundlights.org/about

If you're making a positive contribution to the world in some way and would like to be part of a supportive network to connect with other changemakers and explore doing good and doing well, join my free Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/do.good.do.well

Sarah Fox: www.sarahfox.co.uk
Email Sarah Fox: andsarah@sarahfox.co.uk

Edited by Ryan Nile for Pure Creation Media