Boost Up

I cannot walk upon your legs, or you upon mine. I cannot breathe for you, or you for me; I must breathe for myself.” Frederick Douglass Boost Up is a new youth homelessness charity that recognises that the circumstances of birth are unequal. That this more than often dictates your opportunity in life. There are few greater examples of this than access to housing. While some are graced with the economic conditions that allow them to rely on the financial gifts of family to afford to rent in London (the bank of mum and dad), so many lack this opportunity. Too many young people in this city experience homelessness due to the lack of financial means that will allow them to afford the market rent for housing. Our charity seeks to address this, providing the same opportunity to those who lack it. In practice, this is through a ‘Boost Up’, a time limited monthly payment that covers the disparity between the housing benefit rate and the market rate, allowing those who normally lack financial support to afford to rent in this city. Once secure in housing with this subsidy, we turn the attention towards getting this young person into work, so they can reach the financial independence they need to pay for themselves, to walk on their own legs, to breathe for themselves. We want to see a city in which these same young people are not priced out, that they don’t have to leave their home, their culture, their communities. We want to see them work hard for their success, not having to rely on the indefinite support of the state, but instead reaching financial independence born from their labour. We want them to be able to say to themselves one day that they helped build their city, that they are a part of its ongoing narrative, not existing on the margins.