Street Child World Cup team up with LIFT2014 to tackle global issue of youth homelessness on the London stage

Posted on the 3rd June 2014

Two former street children are taking part in an international football themed theatre performance about youth homelessness, pharm in Hackney, look London, in June.

The young people, from the Philippines and Tanzania, are alumni of the Street Child World Cup, which has involved street children from 19 countries in tournaments in Durban 2010 and Rio de Janeiro 2014.

The charity has partnered with the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) to provide a fascinating insight to the global issue of youth homelessness.

The performance, entitled “Turfed”, will be directed by the Brazilian and SCWC Artistic Director, Renato Rocha, and takes place at Hackney Down Studios in East London from June 9-21 at the same time as the FIFA World Cup gets up and running in Brazil.

Take a sneak peek at the trailer here.

John Wroe, CEO of Street Child United, says: “Turfed is a wonderful example of how football and the arts can unite to give the issue of youth homelessness a platform to be heard. That is why it is so fitting that our alumni who were with us in Durban, Rio and now London should take to the stage for Turfed and represent the stories of street children from across the world. We believe that no child should have to live on the streets.”

Established in 1981 with a mission to throw open a cultural window to the world, the 20th LIFT festival will take place across London from 9-21 June with Turfed just one of 500 performances. Turfed enables the cast to share their experiences through a collaborative process, creating and presenting themes by drawing on experiences as a group delivered in fast-paced production, comprising spoken word, sharp choreography and stunning visuals.

Across the world an estimated 100 million children live and work on the streets. In the UK the social phenomenon of street children and youth homelessness is less widespread however 75,000 young people are in contact with homeless organizations each year. In London, younger adults are at particular risk of homeless, in three years the number of young people sleeping rough in London has more than doubled and 8% of 16-24 year olds report recently being homeless.

Turfed presents a unique opportunity to engage new audiences in supporting young people living and working on the street.

*Statistics from Crisis March 2014 report