A new book, All the Way Home, with articles by Scottish writers including Val McDermid, Kirstin Innes and Jenni Fagan will raise funds for Scottish youth homelessness charity Rock Trust, as well as telling the stories those affected.
The stories are all based on the idea of home from a variety of angles, including family and belonging as well as homelessness. The different voices will spotlight the complicated story of youth homelessness and how it affects young people in Scotland. Almost 7,000 young people were officially declared homeless last year.
The book has been made possible with the help of independent publishers, Taproot Press.
Kate Polson, CEO of Rock Trust said, ‘Despite the high numbers of young people affected, youth homelessness is still hugely misunderstood and often a hidden crisis. Many young people are never declared homeless, they may not even realise themselves that they are homeless, moving between hostels or the sofas of friends, even strangers, just to keep a roof over their head. But they are not safe, and they need our help now.
We are proud of what we have achieved as an organisation over the past 30 years, and this anthology is a powerful way for us to celebrate our journey, but it has also been an opportunity to reflect, question, and acknowledge how far we still have to go, if we are to truly see an end to youth homelessness in Scotland.’
Patrick Jamieson of Taproot Press said, ‘As an Edinburgh-based publisher, Rock Trust’s mission is one of particular significance to us, and we are determined to help produce a book worthy of honouring their 30 years of dedicated work. We hope that the publication of All the Way Home will help raise awareness of both Rock Trust’s work and the on-going need to recognise youth homelessness in both its visible and invisible forms.’
All the Way Home is on sale from March 4th with launch events taking place in Edinburgh with Golden Hare Books on March 16th, and in Glasgow with Outwith Books on March 17th. More information on how to purchase the book or tickets to either of the launches can be found at www.rocktrust.org/allthewayhome
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