SHARE BOLTON
Raising awareness of homelessness and promoting
literacy skills.
Sharon Jones
Co-founder & Project Coordinator
Sharon is the co-founder of the project and a former senior tutor at Bolton Sixth Form College. Her determination throughout the project as project coordinator has made our voice much louder. She has combined her passions for literacy and social justice and turned it from a tiny acorn into a mighty oak. Sharon is a football punk Poet and is a supporter of Liverpool FC. Moreover, Sharon runs Share Argyll.
BILLY
Thornleigh Salesian College
Billy is our student ambassador at Thornleigh Salesian College and from a young age he's gone to great lengths to help Bolton's homeless, most notably by being the boy who saved Christmas and more recently his hugely successful Billy's Blessing Bags campaign. Billy is a Bolton Wanderers season ticket holder and keen footballer.
JAMES
Bolton Sixth Form College
James is the student ambassador at Bolton Sixth Form College and he's certainly on a mission. At 16, James is combining his education and photography skills to shine a light on particular social issues such as homelessness. He is extremely passionate about making a difference to the lives of others around him and we're proud to have him on our team.
STUDENT AMBASSADORS
Jake Kirkman
Co-founder & PROJECT DIRECTOR
Jake is the co-founder of SHARE Bolton and a former student of Bolton Sixth Form College. His involvement has been instrumental in the constant running of the project; editing much of the book and being the forefront of community engagement. Jake is currently studying a degree in Zoology at the University of Liverpool and is a long suffering Bolton Wanderers and Stenhousemuir FC supporter.
ABOUT US
Founded in 2015 by a student and tutor, SHARE aims to improve literacy skills and raise awareness of homelessness through creativity.
Jake Kirkman and Sharon Jones met in an il-lit room in the brand new Bolton Sixth Form College campus and created an 'in-house' writing competition, with the aim of raising awareness of homelessness and promoting literacy skills within the College.
The competition was hugely successful and as a result, an anthology was produced from submissions. In March 2016, the first anthology went on sale for £1 at Waterstones Bolton and The Kitchen on Great Moor Street, with all proceeds from the sale of the book being donated to Bolton Young Persons Housing Scheme. A month later the anthology was officially launched at Waterstones, with special guest and Bolton favourite Dave Spikey in attendance.
Over a year later, the second anthology was released, deciding to focus on female homelessness. The anthology was utilised as an educational resource and a stepping stone to challenging the negative perceptions of the homeless.
