S3, E4: In London, a Unique Tour Company Employs Formerly Homeless Guides

Homelessness—or being unhoused, or facing housing insecurity—is not often a topic we discuss in travel, except perhaps negatively. This week on Unpacked, we hear from a London tour company that aims to shift this perspective.

Transcript

Aislyn Greene, host: I’m Aislyn Greene, and you’re listening to Unpacked, the podcast that delves into one complex travel topic each week.

This week, we’re examining how travel intersects with the issue of housing deprivation, commonly known as homelessness. It's a delicate subject that resonates with me personally. I have a family member who has faced homelessness, and I reside in the Bay Area, where the conversation around this topic has been particularly challenging.

Recently, you might have noticed that a TikTok influencer cut his trip short in San Francisco, citing various concerns, particularly regarding safety. I won’t delve deeply into this matter, but I want to share my viewpoint: Many areas of the city feel vibrant, lively, and safe. However, I challenge us to think critically about how and when we use the term 'safe.'

Encountering individuals who are struggling with mental health or lacking basic comforts can be unsettling. I understand that these situations can evoke fear and discomfort. But by avoiding these feelings, travelers miss out on the unique stories of individuals and places. I’m not advocating for recklessness or suggesting we distribute food at every tent city we pass, but ignoring the topic feels unjust. There are larger systemic issues at play, and while travel won’t resolve them, we should at least engage in the conversation. This episode introduces a walking-tour company that integrates the topic of homelessness into the tourism narrative.

Our guide is Rachel Parsons, a multimedia journalist and the host of the solo travel series The Peregrine Dame. She divides her time between L.A. and London, where she discovered the innovative work of Unseen Tours.

Nic Shaw, tour guide: We stand here at St. Giles in the Fields, which was once literally a field where individuals were hung, drawn, and quartered.

Rachel Parsons, journalist: In my opinion, there's no better way to spend a couple of hours in a new city than on a good walking tour. Especially one that reminds me of how fortunate I am to live in a time where public executions are no longer a threat. I appreciate a bit of history—

Nic: He became a physician for Henry VIII simply because he was caught with three women. After all, he was supposed to be a monk, and monks are not meant to associate with women.

Rachel: —and a bit of architecture.

Nic: St. Patrick’s Church wasn’t really a church at all; it was originally a residence known as Carlisle House. There’s another Carlisle House nearby, but this one had a somewhat sketchy reputation.

Rachel: And London is brimming with them. Not the sketchy houses (though there are still plenty of those), but walking tours. There are food tours, pub tours, architecture tours, history tours, street art tours, and of course the ever-popular Jack the Ripper tours in the once gritty East End.

But I find myself in the bright lights and polished—if somewhat commercialized—elegance of the West End. I’m joining guide Nic Shaw for her tour through the Soho and St. Giles neighborhoods. Soho is renowned as London’s nightlife capital. Lavish theaters and the flat-faced Victorian brick buildings crowd narrow sidewalks, pushing pedestrians onto tight streets, where the pavement obscures much of the old cobblestones. Once infamous for vice, today Soho and St. Giles are more recognized for tacky clubs and pricey restaurants than public executions.

London’s queer community has a rich history in Soho. Nic pauses before a door adorned with an elaborate knocker on a quiet walkway called Flitcroft Street. In 1935, this was the entrance to Billie’s, a gay members-only club. With homosexuality being illegal at the time, Billie’s and the nearby Caravan Club faced intense surveillance from secret police.

Nic: This was just two of countless such establishments. They operated for about a year before the government intervened, declaring, 'This is the work of Satan. We must shut these places down.' And they did.

Rachel: This led to aggressive raids by the Metropolitan Police and prolonged trials and sentences for many patrons and club owners.

As we reflect on historical social injustices, Nic—who has been guiding tours since 2019—seizes the opportunity to share some personal history.

Nic: The only reason I found a decent home was because I stayed in hostels, and then a charity called Broadway placed me with a woman who had just completed rehab. She had a history of heroin use.

Rachel: If this seems like a bit of a non sequitur for a historical walking tour, it’s because Nic is a guide with Unseen Tours, a social enterprise in London that employs individuals who were formerly homeless. Nic Shaw spent around 12 years among the city’s thousands of hidden homeless, moving from one hostel to another. According to Jayni Gudka, the organization’s CEO, Unseen Tours guides have experienced various forms of homelessness, including what’s known in Britain as 'sleeping rough.'

A note about the sound: Jayni has agreed to meet me on a particularly dreary, rainy day in London, and we’ve had to seek refuge in a noisy coffee shop.

Jayni Gudka, CEO of Unseen Tours: Our tour guides include some who have been rough sleeping in London for many years. Others have not experienced that specific type of homelessness but have faced hidden homelessness. For instance, they may have had hospital stays that left them without a place to go afterward or found themselves sleeping in cars after being displaced. Some have experienced relationship breakdowns that led to homelessness, staying in hostels or couch surfing. The experiences vary widely, and we’re eager to raise awareness about this through our tours.

Rachel: To clarify, this is not poverty tourism, and Unseen Tours does not employ guides who are still homeless. Instead, Jayni explains that if someone approaches them who is unhoused, their first priority is to collaborate with partner organizations to secure stable housing before any training begins.

During her tour, Nic recounts how she finally secured stable housing—around 2010, although she can’t recall the exact date—marking the end of a dozen years of living day by day. She received assistance from social workers before joining Unseen Tours. I’ll return to that, but understanding her journey out of homelessness requires insight into how she fell into it in the first place.

Nic has invited me to her apartment for a quieter conversation away from the street noise. It's located in a tidy public housing complex with a lush green courtyard in Covent Garden, near St. Giles. Her living room is filled with history books, stacked on the shelves, the floor, and the tables. The walls are a vibrant, deep green that matches Nic’s green jacket, green jewelry, and green nail polish. At 66 and sober, Nic believes that no one would guess she had once been homeless.

Nic: People often think, 'Oh, look at those homeless people. They’re just scroungers; they haven’t—' but they really don’t understand the situation. They have no idea how quickly things can change. I usually start my tour by saying: You never know. Life can take unexpected turns. One moment, everything seems fine and perfect, and then suddenly, it’s not.

Rachel: Nic was born in 1956 in northwest England. She became a nurse, married young, and had two children. From the outside, everything seemed... fine.

Nic: People often claim they’re fine, don’t they? 'Oh, I’m fine. How are you, Rachel? Oh, I’m fine.' But do you know what that really means? It stands for F*cked up, Insecure, Nervous, and Emotional. And that’s often the reality, even if we all wear a big smile.

Rachel: In Nic’s case, the smile couldn’t conceal the bruises. Her husband was abusive, both physically and psychologically, and she eventually left him. After some time, she found someone new and experienced love and stability for several years. While still working as a nurse and studying criminology part-time, tragedy struck. One day, she returned home from work to find her partner dead. The painful years of past trauma and recent loss led to mental illness and eventually, alcohol addiction.

Nic: Everything just fell apart. My sister suggested I come live with her in East Dulwich, so I did, but my mind was a mess.

Rachel: At that time, Nic recalls that her sister in London was struggling to cope and didn’t fully grasp the severity of Nic’s issues. Eventually, she asked Nic to leave. With nowhere else to turn, Nic found a bed in a hostel that served the down-and-out, the homeless, and those battling addiction.

Nic continued to work as a nurse. In fact, throughout her time without a permanent home, she held paying jobs as well as volunteer roles. However, she admits that much of her earnings went towards buying alcohol. Nic Shaw was 42 when she entered that hostel and became homeless.

Nic: I say I was homeless, but I also felt lost. Just the feeling of being lost can feel very different. I believe I felt homeless for much longer than I actually was, simply because I didn’t have a place to call my own.

Rachel: She takes a moment to pause and surveys her green sitting room.

Nic: This is my very first home—I’ve created it myself. This is my first bed, my first floor; it's all these little things that signify ownership. It’s about having something that truly belongs to me.

Rachel: A key part of Unseen Tours’ mission is to help guides reclaim that sense of ownership in their professional lives. But it goes beyond that; it’s also about representation and visibility in the tourism industry, which often tries to make those experiencing homelessness invisible. As CEO Jayni Gudka emphasizes, who better to convey the depth of lived experiences in a location?

Jayni: If they've been sleeping on the streets, they know those streets better than anyone else. They understand the fascinating personalities better than anyone.

Rachel: And they know the narratives they want to share. Jayni explains that staff and volunteers collaborate with guides to help build confidence and public speaking skills, but they are careful not to overshadow the authenticity of the guides' stories.

Jayni: We are committed to ensuring that the individuals we work with can share their stories in their own words. We don’t want to impose our language or dictate what they should express about their experiences with homelessness; each person's journey is unique, and it's vital that their individual experiences are honored. Everyone experiences homelessness in their own way.

Rachel: This is why each guide chooses how much of their personal story to share. Now, back to Nic. Ninety-nine percent of her two-hour tour is focused on history and culture, but she also discusses her journey out of homelessness to shed light on gaps in the safety net.

Keep in mind that Nic had been living in hostels for around 12 years when her social workers finally found her a roommate and placed them in public housing. The woman’s name was Lana.

Nic: Lana had just come out of rehab after a four-week stay and had a history with heroin. I moved in with her. I've never used drugs—alcohol, yes, but not drugs.

Rachel: Lana soon relapsed into her heroin addiction. Things took a dangerous turn when some of Lana’s acquaintances began showing up at their apartment at all hours, attempting to break in. Nic's case workers realized they needed to relocate her. They assisted Nic in securing her own apartment—

Nic: —and it’s been 11 years since anyone has seen Lana. She’s likely dead. It’s a tough reality, but I believe it was my situation with Lana that ultimately led to my being moved out. It sounds terrible, but I feel like I was the last person to see her.

Rachel: While Nic's story had a fortunate outcome, it easily could have gone another way, as homelessness in London has risen over the past decade, placing immense pressure on the city's support systems. Liz McCulloch serves as the policy and research manager at St. Mungo’s, a nonprofit organization focused on homeless services.

Liz McCulloch: The latest annual figures reveal that there were 10,053 individuals sleeping rough in London, representing a 21 percent rise from the year before.

Rachel: That's over 10,000 individuals on the streets. However, like Nic, many others remain uncounted. According to Liz, hidden homelessness complicates the statistics, making it impossible to know the full extent.

Liz: Hidden homelessness includes those who slip through the cracks of the system. This group consists of individuals who may be sofa surfing, sleeping in unstable conditions, or staying in squats at night, while during the day, they might rely on public transportation. These individuals often don’t get recognized as a distinct group in statistics, yet addressing hidden homelessness is crucial for effectively combating rough sleeping, as these are people on the brink of becoming homeless.

Rachel: Tourism professionals—and many travelers—often shy away from encountering people sleeping on the streets. This reaction is especially pronounced in glamorous cities like London, where tourism generates billions of dollars annually.

Jayni: From our experience, individuals who have faced homelessness are often left out of the tourism narrative. For instance, during events like the London Olympics or Harry and Meghan's royal wedding, homeless individuals were often pushed away from the locations where these significant occasions took place. The aim was for London, and the UK as a whole, to avoid showcasing its homelessness issue to the world during such high-profile events.

Rachel: This isn’t just a London problem; it’s a global issue. I've seen it firsthand in cities like Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, and Manila whenever a major sporting event, political figure, or the pope visits.

Jayni: At Unseen Tours, we view this as a significant missed opportunity. It's unfortunate because the perspectives and insights that individuals who have experienced rough sleeping or homelessness offer about their communities are unique and often absent from traditional walking tours or the tourism sector.

Rachel: Nic and her colleagues possess a deep understanding of the complex context surrounding their tour locations, paired with a solid knowledge of historical facts. During our time in Soho, Nic takes us to one of her preferred spots: Soho Square. She highlights number 21, noting that it played a part in Soho’s notorious reputation for vice in the 19th century.

Nic: They acquired this establishment and transformed it into what was known as the Magic Hotel. It was also referred to as the White House, among other names. Essentially, it operated as a brothel.

Rachel: The individuals in question were the high-society dominatrix Theresa Berkley and her business partner. It's said that she invented the Berkley Horse, a BDSM whipping rack. Members of the upper crust and nobility were willing to pay Berkley handsomely for her complete discretion and her infamous cat-o'-nine-tails. One of Theresa's potential clients illustrates this in a letter that Nic reads aloud to us.

Nic: "A pound sterling for the first drop of blood, two pounds if it trickles down to my heels, three pounds if my heels are soaked in blood, four pounds if it reaches the floor, and five pounds if you manage to knock me out." [Audience laughs.] Exactly! But I mean, if that’s what you desire.

Rachel: Nic’s tour revolves around history, but Jayni mentions that each guide tailors their tour to their personal interests, with ample support from staff throughout the preparation process.

Jayni: It’s a highly customized process. We collaborate with the guides on a one-on-one basis. Developing a tour can take anywhere from three months to, I believe, 21 months, which was the longest we’ve taken for one tour's development.

Rachel: That was Nic’s tour, by the way.

Jayni: We’re committed to ensuring that none of our tour guides are given a fixed script. This is their tour, and they take ownership of it. It’s all about the stories they are most passionate about, drawn from their own experiences and the communities they represent.

Rachel: A significant aspect of the process involves providing support services. Nic dedicated nearly two years to crafting her tour, not only to delve into the history of her area but also to cultivate the confidence needed to speak in front of unfamiliar audiences.

Jayni: The challenges faced by individuals with a history of homelessness can be quite diverse. Some may require additional support for mental health or trauma they encountered during their time without a home. Others might have lost their confidence due to feeling invisible while experiencing homelessness. Our goal is to empower them to rebuild their self-esteem and self-worth. We assist with public speaking and other necessary skills for creating their walking tours. Moreover, the individuals we work with are incredible storytellers, rich with fascinating narratives about their own lives and the communities they inhabit.

Rachel: Since the inception of Unseen Tours in 2010, 24 guides have welcomed over 25,000 tourists in London. The organization is now looking to expand to other cities in the U.K. and internationally. Jayni expresses her hope that these tours will foster deeper conversations between tourists and guides.

Jayni: Our aim is to facilitate discussions about homelessness with those who often lack the opportunity to engage in such topics. Many may carry stereotypes or stigmas associated with homelessness, stemming from their own biases. We encourage open and honest conversations around these issues.

Rachel: For Nic Shaw, her tours aim to penetrate the glamorous facade of London’s West End, particularly concerning those who inhabit it.

Nic: It's essential to remember that appearances can be deceiving. Just because someone seems fine on the outside doesn’t mean they are; many people wear a mask.

Rachel: During my years of traveling to and residing in London, I've witnessed the cracks in its facade widen as homelessness has intensified and the safety net has frayed. As a traveler, I feel it is my duty to observe the complete picture of a place, flaws and all, to grasp its context fully. Turning a blind eye to the more challenging aspects of a destination does a disservice to both myself and the place. As I stroll through Soho with our small group, I can't help but admire Nic Shaw for her bravery in confronting complete strangers to share the darkest chapters of her life three times a week. Her willingness to be open about her experiences, her resilience, and her insistence on being acknowledged are truly inspiring. She embodies compassion for those who remain invisible.

Aislyn: That was Rachel Parsons. We’ll provide links to her work in the show notes, along with information about Unseen Tours. We’ll keep you updated on their expansion into other cities. If you have the chance to take one of their tours, please let us know how it goes.

Aislyn: Join us next week for our first 'Unpacking' episode of the season, featuring a focus on Albuquerque.

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You’ve been listening to Unpacked, a Dinogo Media production. This podcast is brought to you by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland, with music composed by Chris Colin. Remember: The world is intricate, and we’re here to help you make sense of it.