THE devastating plight of the homeless is powerfully illustrated through a new anthology written and published by the students in Bolton.

Students from Bolton Sixth Form College and the University of Bolton have used pen power to raise awareness of the issue and the organisations like Urban Outreach and The Big Issue.

Their work has been published and can be read at the college.

Jake Kirkman from Tonge Moor was inspired to raise the awareness of those left homeless after volunteering on a street kitchen in Piccadilly Gardens.

He came up with the idea along with his lecturer Sharon Jones.

He said: "I volunteered here because I feel that it’s a great injustice that human beings are quivering in shop entrances in an affluent city like Manchester, which is in the world’s 6th richest country — I also feel that despite it being a small contribution, I could do something to help, because it certainly goes a long way.

"Through volunteering here I ended up getting involved with the Stock Exchange squat. All of this has had a profound impact on my life, because of the things I've seen, but you also get to meet some right characters too."

More than 30 entries were received with poems and short stories submitted, with students writing as if they were homeless.

Jake said: "It just goes to show how creative people can be and how easy it is to spread a message like this by using creativity. Some of the pieces submitted are very thought provoking, you can tell how much effort and thought people have put into writing them."

He added: "I think it’s essential that people understand what homelessness is and how people end up on the streets — this is a problem that is here in black and white and it isn’t going away anytime soon.

"I always hear people say the same boring things like 'they’re just lazy drug addicts who don’t want to work', and I always say to them: there are two things you need to understand.

"The first is that without a home you can’t get a job and the second is that without a job you can’t get a home.

"It would be ludicrous of me to say that there aren’t any people on the streets who haven’t ended up there because of drugs or alcohol, but we have to think what drove them to that stage in their lives in the first place.

"We shouldn’t be casting vacuous aspersions on these people.

"People end up on the streets for many reasons: benefit sanctions, family break-up, bedroom tax, unemployment, addiction, austerity, illness, domestic violence, the list goes on.

"Sharon and I are already achieving what we set out to do and it’s getting people to talk about this somewhat taboo subject."