Time to shine is an event hosted by The Basement which was originally inspired by the talented and numerous homeless buskers on the streets of Liverpool. It was designed to give those people the opportunity to ‘shine’ through their chosen talent in a safe, non-judgmental environment with people who share and understand their individual and complex needs.

Time to Shine April 13 performers

Three years after the event was originally launched on World Homeless Day in 2010, the event has become more than just an opportunity to entertain, it provides service users and front line workers in the homeless and addiction community the chance to come together, build networks and share their learning and experiences with one another in order to maximise positive outcomes for people in our city.

April’s event was a huge success with over 200 people attending throughout the day and over 17 different services. Ellen Roach, who founded Time To Shine on behalf of The Basement and organises the event commented:

“People from across the spectrum of services and Merseyside came to bridge the gap between between homeless communities and active addiction and alcoholism towards recovering communities with independent living. This message was relayed to all the service users who came along on the day – using creativity as the messenger”.

On behalf of Ellen and all of the Staff at The Basement we would like to thank Urban Strawberry Lunch, FACT and the Peer Mentors and Volunteers at The Basement for helping to make the event our best yet!

To view some of the feedback footage from service users and other organisations who attended visit our Facebook page and ‘Like’ us to find out when the next event will be.

If you would like to donate to the Basement to help fund future Time to Shine events please visit our free secure online donation facility: MyDonate. Alternatively contact Ellen Roach at Ellen.Roach@the-basement.org.uk for more information.