AIL Meets Matt Peacock of Streetwise Opera

Streetwise Opera is the charity that uses opera to help homeless people get back on their feet. CEO Matt Peacock tells us how they’re making a difference.
AIL Meets Matt Peacock of Streetwise Opera picture

In 2012 the English National Opera launched their ‘Undress For The Opera’ campaign, an attempt to dispel opera’s stuffy image by encouraging the public to turn up wearing jeans and trainers. The subsequent outburst in the press gave an indication of how militantly people felt about its exclusive, slightly intimidating reputation.

For Streetwise Opera this is inconsequential; composing, producing and performing operatic works require skills, and these are what the charity sets out to nurture. Workshops take place at homeless centres in six UK cities, all led by professional singers who teach the story and plot of an opera, characterisation, and learning to sing by ear among other subjects. “Most of the homelessness services in the world are about people’s practical needs like housing, healthcare, food and shelter” Peacock explains. “There is something important we can do, and the arts can do in general, which is make people feel proud of themselves, and feel that they have skills they may not have known about, and that certainly no one has told them they are good at.”

He is quick to point out that their programme shouldn’t be seen as more important than practical day to day services, but rather as “adding extra value”. “We’re not about making people into musicians, the success for us is about people making tangible changes, so the confidence that you have after coming to one of our sessions might mean that you want to pick up the phone to an estranged family member, or that you put your name on the housing list or you go and have a meeting with the education and training worker.”

The sessions take place at the same time each week. People can be involved for as little or as long as they like, even years in some cases, however it’s not uncommon for people to be swiftly moved on by local authorities. “They’re calling it being ‘repatriated’, so if you come from Birmingham and you land in London, in a statutory way you’re not entitled to any help and have to be moved back. That’s certainly the case increasingly for people who come from overseas, who can’t demonstrate that they have the right to stay here. So for that group of people we might see them for a very short amount of time before they move out of the centre.”

Isn’t that a bit disheartening? “We make it work. If someone comes even once we make sure they’re getting something from the session. That could be that they’re referred to by their Christian name, which doesn’t happen much if you’re isolated or you’re living in a situation where people aren’t talking to you much. That can be a really important thing. Or having some kind of affirmation when you’ve spent your week talking to homeless workers about your problems, not your achievements.”

As of April they’re adding a second layer to their scheme by basing additional workshops in arts centres. Peacock explains this is vital so that people can still attend after leaving the homeless shelters. “Once people are rehoused it’s really important to have connections in the community. Being based in arts centres means they can join other groups, find out about other things that are happening in their area and are therefore less isolated, which is one of the real problems with rehousing, as people end up in all sorts of places. In London it’s really important that there are opportunities to not be too isolated.”

The number of people sleeping rough on the streets of London has increased by 62% in the last two years according to local homeless agencies. It’s a scandalous rise, and serves to highlight the lack of empathy that exists towards the homeless. “Wherever we’ve worked it’s the same, the public look down on homeless people in general and there are a lot of misconceptions about why they’re there and what their need is. In my experience that negativity grinds you down so much that it’s not only important to show the public that the homeless are a group of people who have the same qualities as everyone else, but as individuals, to show to themselves they have skills and something to give back.”

Peacock was very familiar with the structure of homeless charities before he set up Streetwise. In the late 90s he worked at a night shelter called Passage House, one of the biggest drop-in centres in Europe. For a while he was a homeless worker as well as an opera critic; then in 2001 Streetwise was born. Last year they started running workshops in Australia and they’ve also organised projects in North America and Japan.

Back in the UK, Streetwise have staged productions, in some cases original works. Their most recent show was ‘With One Voice’ at the Royal Opera House, part of the London 2012 Festival and the first time in history homeless people have had an official role in the Olympics celebrations. Peacock says that one of the joys of his job is watching the public be blown away by the performances.

Writer and geographer Danny Dorling says that housing is “the defining issue of our times”, one that drives the economy and therefore can’t be solved with a one-for-all answer. It would be a start if London sorted out its social housing, says Peacock. “What really doesn’t help is [the lack of] affordable housing, I think having caps on rent is incredibly important and useful, as the way it is now is just creating a lot of social problems. In an ideal world I wish the transport system was much better and cheaper too, at the moment the cost of transport and the lack of affordable housing mean that people on low incomes really struggle.”

It’s not all negative though. “I think London is a place that’s so accepting of people from different walks of life and different cultures. The door is always open in a way, I love the fact that in certain ways the housing situation is dealt with really well, because there is mixed housing all the way through the city, while in many other cities only the rich can afford to live in the centre.”

He also believes it is second to none where accessibility to culture is concerned. “It is the centre of the world in my opinion in terms of the arts. I feel so privileged that any day of the week you can see world class art and quite a lot of it is free. I love the Southbank, I love the opera houses, I love anywhere with free access because it’s brilliant if you have a family to be able to access places like the National Gallery, the Tate, and all the galleries that are still free. And then there are pockets of really vibrant, small theatre and music organisations that really complement the big national ones. It’s just an amazing place to live.”

What’s his idea of a utopian London? “If it was more affordable and there was a real possibility for people on low incomes to live better in the city, and that the big polarisation with housing was fixed so there are easier entry points. Plus I think that Londoners are a group of really kind, generous people, who sometimes need a little bit of encouragement for it to come out. With events like the Olympics you find the true generosity of people, it’s not that it isn’t there, it’s just that we are quite a reserved nation and London is a big metropolis. For The Big Lunch initiative our road was closed off and we had a big party in the middle of the street, and we now know each other much better. I think opportunities for us to slow down and talk to each other should happen more. And of course, a utopian London is one where no one has to sleep on the streets.”

Published Mar 3, 2014