A poetry project has been set up to air the voices of homeless people in Bradford.

The West Yorkshire Learning Consortium is working with Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Homeless Link on the new “informal learning” approach, made possible by the Government’s Learning Revolution Transformation Fund.

Bradford’s Gary Staniforth, 41, has set up a creative writing project under the scheme.

Mr Staniforth, who was homeless for six months, created the Hidden Homeless foundation to identify flaws in policies for helping single homeless people.

He has worked with Bradford Council’s Access to Housing team and the Supporting People group.

He set up a poetry competition, called Get Your Pen Out, for people who have been homeless, and plans to publish a collection of the entries.

“I wanted to get people’s voices out there,” he said.

“There are a lot of people with a lot of talent and you can read between the lines of people’s poems and see how they really feel about things.

“It is about raising awareness of homelessness. It isn’t the end of the road, it is the beginning of one.

“People can rebuild their lives.”

Yorkshire and the Humber regional Homeless Link manager Joe Kent said: “Homeless people can become trapped by their situation, so this is a lifeline to help them move forwards in their lives.”

Claire Robinson, Transformation Fund project manager for the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), said: “The innovative nature of the winning projects is sure to transform the way adults learn, improving well being and building confidence along the way.”

Anyone who would like to get involved with Get Your Pen Out is asked to contact Artworks Bradford projects officer Suzy Russell, on (01274) 256928.

e-mail: tanya.orourke@telegraphandargus.co.uk