Leicester Cathedral hosted the city’s third Service in Lament of Homelessness on Wednesday 7 October, bringing together people from across the homelessness sector, service users and wider community to remember those who have died while experiencing homelessness.
The service provided a poignant opportunity to honour the lives of people who have died on the streets or as a result of their experiences of homelessness, recognising the individuals behind the statistics and ensuring their lives and memories are not forgotten.
Led by Canon Alison Adams, Chair of Leicester’s Homelessness Charter Management Board, with an address from the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, Lord Bishop of Leicester, the service combined prayers, readings, music and reflection. Attendees were invited to light candles in memory of those they had known, supported or wished to remember.
During the service, the names of eleven people who have been gathered in Leicester and the surrounding county were read aloud:
Cameron Blacker, Gareth Carter, Carlos Costa, Tom Twist Hulme, Anthony Kirkland, Valdis Leonovs, Delicia Mckay, Adrian Roberts, Serjes Stratinskis, Sonia Tonge and Anthony Wilson.
The service also offered an opportunity to renew a collective commitment to tackling homelessness through partnership working, compassion and action. Those attending were encouraged to speak up for people whose voices are often unheard and to continue working together towards a future where homelessness is prevented and everyone has a place to call home.
The service was generously supported by Leicester Cathedral and served as a reminder that behind every statistic is a person, a life and a story worth remembering.
Poem
No One Walks Alone
As read by Salma Ravat MBE, CEO One Roof Leicester
They walked roads we did not see,
carrying burdens we never knew.
Their names, sometimes spoken softly,
sometimes not at all,
were still whole, still human,
still worthy of every kindness.
Tonight we remember them.
Not for what they lacked,
but for all they carried—
the courage to rise each morning,
the will to keep moving
through cold streets and quiet corners
where the world looked away.
May they find now
the warmth we could not give,
the shelter they were denied,
the peace that was always theirs by right.
Let no one say they passed unnoticed.
We speak their memory aloud.
We hold a place for them here.
And in this moment of stillness,
we promise:
no one walks alone.
Anonymous
