Chester Cathedral is opening its doors later this month for a discussion about homelessness.
It’s part of a series of events which take place to enable people to discuss topical issues.
Assemble events take place every few months and have included talks on artificial intelligence, environmental protesting and election debates.
The event this month will take place on 24th October at Cafe 1092 in the cathedrals’ refectory and is free of charge to attend.
It begins at 6.45pm and the panel will address the question “What’s the ‘problem’ with homelessness?” before inviting questions or insights from the floor.
“Chester Cathedral is many things to many people and we want to be a place where people feel confident to gather to discuss topics that matter in our modern world,” said Dean of Chester, Dr Tim Stratford.
The event’s panel comprises experts from Chester and beyond with a wealth of experience working with the homeless.
This month, they are:
- Cllr Richard Beacham – Cheshire West and Chester Council lead for Chester’s One City Plan, which includes proposals to end rough sleeping in the city
- Jamie Edwards – homeless service manager for SHARE Chester, who has experience working frontline with the homeless
- Salma Ravat – founder member and CEO of One Roof Leicester, a charity providing accommodation and support to single people who are homeless in Leicester
A single-night snapshot taken on the 9th November last year in west Cheshire found that there were 22 people sleeping rough which was an increase of 12 people on the same measure in 2022.
For the 2023/2024 period, the number of people who started a homelessness support application was 4,884 which is a 62% increase on the same figure five years ago.
Refreshments for the event will be served from 6.15pm and tickets (free of charge) are available from the Chester Cathedral website.
