David Tovey
Co-Director
A formerly homeless artist, educator and activist who works in a range of media. He is the founder of the UK’s first One Festival of Homeless Arts. david@artshomelessint.com
Our Team
AHI is passionate about co-creation. 50% of our staff and board are or have been homeless and we have a ‘flat staffing structure’ where there is no hierarchy and where everyone is paid the same. From 2024, the UK Charity Commission has granted us permission to pay our Trustees who have lived experience of homelessness
Staff
Katie Langford
Co-Director
Katie has been an actress, radio presenter and prisoner, she’s a core group member and trustee of the Museum of Homelessness and sits on the board of committee for Somebody’s Daughter Theatre, Melbourne, Australia. Katie is passionately committed to instigating change through the transforming power of art and community. katie@artshomelessint.com
Matt Peacock MBE
Co-Director
Former support worker, founder of Streetwise Opera and Clore Leadership Fellow. He is one of Gordon Brown’s ‘Everyday Heroes’ one of Evening Standard’s ’Most Influential Londoners’ and a Southbank Centre ‘Changemaker’. matt@artshomelessint.com
Samra Said
Co-Director
Samra is a dedicated humanitarian with a commitment to civic engagement. She previously worked with Street Support Network, Human Appeal and is a Southbank Centre ‘ChangeMaker’. samra@artshomelessint.com
Board
Anoushka Rodda
Trustee
Anoushka is Founder and Managing Director of TEMPLO. Having seen the impact of war and human rights violations first hand (her grandmother was born in Aleppo in Syria, her great grandparents were forced to leave their homes in Turkey during the Armenian genocide and her mother left Beirut during the civil war) Anoushka set up Templo determined to use the positive power of design for social change.
Becky Schutt
Trustee
Becky is a strategist and consultant in the international creative industries. She led British Council’s Developing Inclusive & Creative Economies (DICE) programme, established the University of Cambridge MBA in arts management and chaired the UK Relaxed Performance Project for people with severe autism.
Beth Knowles
Co-Chair
Former Mayoral Lead on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping for the Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham. Beth is now Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Holly Jacobson
Trustee
Holly is CEO of Path with Art in Seattle, an organisation to support individual and community recovery through strength-based arts and community programmes for systems-impacted individuals in recovery from trauma. She believes that art and creative expression help us realise our potential as humans and society.
Lucinda Meredith
Co-Chair
Lucinda has an MA from Central School of Speech and Drama, a PGCE from Institute of Education and experience working for organisations such as Cardboard Citizens and Streetwise Opera. She is passionate about arts engagement as a tool for personal and social change.
Meha Patel
Trustee
Meha has a background in the NGO sector across Policy, Advocacy and Fundraising and currently works as Philanthropic Partnerships Manager at UNICEF UK.
Pali Palavathanan
Trustee
Founder and Creative Director of TEMPLO, Pali has nearly twenty years experience in the design industry and has worked with some of the world’s biggest brands including the United Nations, Virgin Atlantic, UD, Disaster Emergency Committee and the Guggenheim Museum. Pali brings his own unique personal experiences of growing up as a refugee on London council estates to his work.
Rachel Walkden
Treasurer
A chartered accountant working in the Finance team at Macquarie, who were one of the Founder Funders of AHI.
Shukry Adan
Trustee
Shukry is very passionate about human rights, mental health, ending homelessness, equality for all and using arts for social change. Shukry worked with Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 on the HOME Festival.
Tom Henderson
Trustee
Tom is a solicitor advocate. He has been active with a wide range of charities, including representing asylum seekers before the Asylum Support Appeals Tribunal, advising on strategic litigation to challenge laws that persecute people on the basis of their sexual orientation.