Homeless women’s issues brought to light by student’s campaign

Frances Carter, a second year BA (Hons) Marketing and Advertising Management student, took part in a competition for Marketing students at our University, which saw more than 100 students work on an assessed project to develop a communications plan for the launch of SimonE on the Streets.

Frances’s project was chosen as the winner by Aissa Gallie, Development Manager for Simon on the Streets. Frances has now been working with Leeds public relations agency, MCG PR, to develop her plan and bring it to life.

On Tuesday 8 March, to coincide with International Women’s Day, a team of eight students led by Frances and Laura McHugh at Leeds College of Art, will occupy Leeds City Square’s eight bronze female statues for two hours. Holding up banners containing powerful statistics, such as ‘women on the streets have an average lifespan of 43 years’, they will bring to light the complex issues faced by women on the street.

Frances said: “I was really inspired by the lecture we received from the charity on their work. After further research, I realised there are significant problems women on the street face that need to be addressed. I thought of occupying the eight female statues in the Square, which are so often unnoticed, as a fitting action to increase public awareness of the issues.

“I was in complete shock when I was told my campaign had been chosen. It is a very rewarding feeling to be able to carry out something I have planned and put work and effort into and I was flattered that they thought it is something that could really work!

“It has been a privilege to work with MCG PR. I have learnt a tremendous amount in a short space of time. To hear what works and what doesn’t in our society today in terms of PR was incredibly interesting. Discussing the campaign and looking at it from someone else’s perspective helped us look at the campaign in different lights and how to adapt the campaign for different media. MCG PR have been incredibly helpful: their expert knowledge and support has helped strengthen the campaign.”

Aissa said "Thank you to all the students who put forward their ideas. It is really so helpful for an organisation as small as ours to have this support of many minds coming together on the same idea.

“The simplicity and poignancy of Frances’s idea made me feel that she really understood Simon on the Streets and the SimonE campaign. We were really pleased with her idea and knew it provided a great opportunity for people to gain a deeper understanding of what our clients are challenged with.”

Neil Kelley, Marketing Course Leader, added: “It has been a fantastic case study, with students working to a real-life brief and producing a pitch to support their plans. All of the students have risen to the challenge and produced some fantastic work for a challenging real-life case study. It's also great to support such a hard-working and passionate local charity and to have our students provide their knowledge, skills and ideas to help support the work they do.”