With the help of some funding from the City of Culture, Jackie Calderwood ( a former research fellow at the DMLL) partnered with CU Coventry and Prof. Nadine Holdsworth from the University of Warwick to develop a game experience aimed at helping people explore the issue of homelessness in Coventry. Jackie and Nadine worked closely with focus groups of staff and service users from Coventry Cyrenians to create a realistic portrayal of the problems and struggles that homeless people in Coventry (and elsewhere in the UK) face on a daily basis and features real-life testimonies and scenarios of homeless and ex-homeless people in the Coventry area.

Jackie organised many pilot sessions and focus groups where key stakeholders or interested groups played the game, reflected on their experiences, and offered suggestions for improvement. The game was piloted with local schools with the aim of raising awareness and encouraging empathy in young people, for those issues faced by Coventry’s homeless and street-sleepers.