Musicians get in tune to homeless issues

A FREE music concert will be held this weekend to raise awareness about the issue of homelessness in Stratford.

The fifth annual awareness concert will be held from 7.30pm to 10.15pm on Friday, 2nd March, at the United Reformed Church on Rother Street.

All donations collected at the concert will go to the Stratford Link Project.

The evening will include performances by some of the people within the Link Project who have written their own music and learned to play the guitar as part of its Music Project to help the homeless to learn music.

The rest of the line-up of performers at the concert includes Nigel Clark (Dodgy), singer songwriter Kristy Gallacher, male and female keyboard guitarist duo Hanna-h, Stratford folk musician Ann-Marie Sanderson, Alcester blues musician Jack Blackman, a poetry reading from Susie Sillet, and the Link Project Guys.

Doug Armstrong, who coordinates the concert, said: “It’s raising awareness for the homeless, socially isolated and the vulnerable.”

The Herald reported recently how the number of rough sleepers in Stratford and Warwick are well above the average in England of 0.20 rough sleepers per 1,000 households and 0.12 for the West Midlands, and how the district council is taking action to increase the amount of temporary accommodation it has at its disposal.