When Sergio Figueroa first faced housing problems he wasn’t exactly singing about it. Figueroa had moved to London from Gran Canaria, Spain, with his three-year-old daughter and found himself living in damp, cold and mouldy conditions. Eventually, he was evicted and pushed into temporary accommodation for a short stint. These experiences led to years of mental health problems.
Wanting to do something active about the housing crisis, Figueroa got involved with different campaign groups across London, but thought they were too locally focused. He wanted to be part of something bigger. He didn’t feel his voice was being heard, and suspected others felt the same. “I was wondering how I could help others,” says Figueroa. “Those who are harder to reach, who have their own problems, who are being left out of the discussion.”
A trained musician, Figueroa came up with an answer in 2013: a housing choir. His choir, named Section 21, campaigns about renting conditions in London, but Figueroa says it is a space for everyone, whatever their housing situation. “I myself have experienced homelessness. Poor renting, rogue landlords, homelessness – these things are linked,” he explains. “There is no limitation to who can join our choir. The first goal is to create a sense of community and to start a healing process.”
For Figueroa, singing provides a literal release of being able to vent frustrations out loud, even if no one in the housing office is listening. “If you voice your concerns through a choir, everybody gets heard,” he says. “When people use music to campaign, we are in harmony.”
Section 21 is not the only housing choir in the country. The choir with no name is a choir for homeless people. Set up in 2008 in London, it has been so successful that there are now two additional branches, in south London and Birmingham. Like Figueroa’s choir, it’s not singing ability that counts, but getting together for a good cause.
As well as providing therapeutic relief and a sense of community for participants, Figueroa says singing has proved to be a vital campaigning tool. “Singing makes people more empathetic, and empathy leads to interaction,” he explains. “When we started the pop-up choir in 2013, people would walk past, ask questions and get involved. We created a network of support – and that helps us to build our campaign.”
His ultimate aim is to bring relief to people who have been in similar situations to his when he first came to England. “For me this is very personal,” he says. “I was living as a single parent in a place that wasn’t suitable for living in. It was cold, it was mouldy, there was no double glazing, and the landlord decided to evict me suddenly. It was an uncomfortable time.”
Figueroa says that anyone thinking about joining his choir is welcome. “I felt I couldn’t change the past, but I could change how I dealt with it,” he says. Now he and the members of his choir want to offer an outlet – and a voice – to other people facing up to bad housing.
Want to join the choir? There’s an introductory session from 12noon -4pm onSaturday 30 Dec at the Auberge gastro pub, 1 Sandell St, Waterloo, London SE1 8UH.
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