Steel roses highlight youth homelessness

Each of the 1,800 steel roses at Sheffield Cathedral represents a young person supported by homeless charity Roundabout

A new display of 1,800 steel roses has been installed at Sheffield Cathedral to highlight the scale of youth homelessness in the city.

Homeless charity Roundabout, which is behind the project, said each flower represents a young person they have supported during the last three years.

Roundabout said demand for its services had risen substantially and it supported 380 young people each day, up from 150 people a day in 2018.

The roses will be on display at the cathedral until the end of October when they will be sold to raise funds for Roundabout.

The charity said the growth in demand meant it had a waiting list for some of the services it offers.

Emily Jones who created the steel roses campaign said: "The flowers have the strength of steel, but the fragility of a rose, just like our young people.

"So many of them go on to work in jobs which support other people because they want to change the system."

The roses will be on display at Sheffield Cathedral until the end of October

One of the young people helped by Roundabout is Lydia, now a peer educator for the charity sharing her stories with young people.

“My relationship with my mum had always been turbulent but when Covid hit, I stopped going to school and ended up living with my dad and great-grandparents," she said.

“My dad had his own struggles and the lockdown only made things worse. Things reached a breaking point, and I left home.

“I started sofa surfing, carrying my belongings in black bin bags and sleeping where I could.”

Lydia was referred to Roundabout at 17 after telling her college tutor about her situation.

The charity helped her secure a place in a female-only hostel.

She now has her own flat and benefited from Roundabout’s mediation team service and counselling.

Lydia is is starting a degree working with children, young people and families at Sheffield Hallam University.

She said Roundabout had been "like a family" to her.

“I honestly don’t know where I’d be without them," she said.

The charity said it hopes to raise £70,000 through the sale of the roses when the exhibition ends.

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