All the Way Home by Various Authors

Something a bit special on the blog today. All the Way Home a collection of writings from established Scottish writers and young people involved with the Rock Trust, Scotland's youth centred homelessness charity. I am delighted to share my review as part of the blog tour. Many thanks to Kelly Lacey at Love Books Tours for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy. As my copy of the book was kindly gifted to me I made a donation to the Rock Trust directly.

 

The Blurb

Rock Trust is Scotland’s youth-specific homelessness charity. Their aim is to end youth homelessness in Scotland by ensuring that every young person has access to expert youth specific services to assist them to avoid, survive and move on from homelessness. They advise, educate and support young people to enable them to build the personal skills and resources required to make a positive and healthy transition to adulthood. They also work to ensure that the public, policy makers, commissioners and practitioners understand the issues, make decisions and take action which will end youth homelessness. Find out more here.

Celebrating 30 years of Rock Trust, Scotland’s only charity committed to tackling youth homelessness, All the Way Home is an anthology of writing by both young people and established writers, including Kirstin Innes. Across poetry, fiction and personal accounts, the idea of ‘home’ is explored from a variety of perspectives: a thirteen year-old girl comes to terms with her unplanned pregnancy; a social worker takes a young orphan in search of his relatives; a group of immigrants from all across the world meet at a weekly Creative Writing class in Glasgow to discuss haiku. Together, this astonishing collection brings to life both the visible and invisible realities of home and homelessness, of family and belonging.

50% of all profits go directly to Rock Trust.

My Review

From Val McDermid's impassioned introduction in which she wants the Rock Trust to close down because them still being open and active means we haven't solved the homelessness problem in Scotland - 'If we classified homelessness as an in illness, in terms of the devastation it causes in the lives of those who suffer from it - there would be a public outcry....If homelessness were an illness, we'd be demanding a cure...' - I knew I was going to be in for something powerful. All The Way Home is a varied collection of essays, poems and personal testimonials that all have one thing in common - they touch on the theme of home and belonging. They include pieces in Gaelic (with translations, which took me far too long to work out!) and traditional Scots dialect.

I enjoyed Beth Godfrey's short story Home about not feeling at home at home and Stephen Keller's Embankment Tube about the experience of giving money to a homeless woman. There is a beautiful, haunting poem by Andrés N. Ordorica, who has contributed a number of poems to the collection, called St Andrew where he is yearning for home across the sea. A Sad Story of Home by Sara Sheridan featuring wee Arthur and Pluripotent by Jenny Fagan about a young girl losing her virginity both broke my heart and in Helen Sedgwick 's Snow Melts where a group of immigrants are discussing Haiku, there was one particular Haiku from their studies that has stuck with me, given the theme of this collection:

Late autumn -
A single chair waiting
For someone yet to come
- Arimo Akito

A poignant call  for an end to homelessness, perhaps.

But by far the most powerful pieces are the testimonials from three young people who have all experienced homelessness. It was heartbreaking to read of what they had been through, made me angry and ashamed, if I'm honest, that I don't do more. But it was heartwarming to hear of the help and support they had received from Rock Trust, the important work it does. I'm grateful those three young people felt brave enough to tell their stories. There are poems contributed by young people amongst the collection too.

I must agree with Val McDermid - it would be wonderful if Rock Trust wasn't needed because it would mean there was no youth homelessness in Scotland. But there is, whilst it remains a problem, I'm very glad that Rock Trust is there to support these vulnerable young people and wish them all the very best.