Unseen Tours: exploring London with the homeless

Ever thought of exploring Shoreditch, a hip London neighborhood, guided by a homeless man? With the Unseen Tours, it won’t be your average walking tour.

A big, blondish guy walks towards us at the entrance of the Old Street underground station, carrying an “Unseen Tours” sign, and I can’t help thinking: “Wow, he doesn’t look like a homeless!”.
Stupid, I know.

But that’s exactly why The Sock Mob Homeless Volunteer Network designed these tours: to erase the stigma attached to the word “homeless”.
“I was homeless, but not a drug addict, an alcoholic or a thief. Nonetheless, that’s what people thought”, says Henri.

Henri, a college graduated originally from Latvia, is now living in a hostel, but used to live in a tent in the middle of a big roundabout in Shoreditch.

Then, a few years ago, a volunteer organization that goes around the city spending some time and distributing socks to people in need, had a unique idea: why not design some sustainable tours through the city led by the homeless, who undoubtedly know the area better than anyone else?

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And so Henri became a guide for the Unseen Tours (and I promise he DOES know the area!), together with Mike, Viv and John who lead other tours in Camden, Covent Garden and London Bridge.

The tour was a 2 hour long walk around Shoreditch, an hip neighborhood in East London that was crime-ridden and quite dangerous in the past, but now it’s vivacious and home to many young artists and creative minds.

I wasn’t expecting one of those “this is Buckingham Palace and this is the Big Ben” kind of tours, of which I’m not exactly a fan, and in fact we walked around back alleys, discovering street art and hidden places, while Henri filled us with curious informations and anecdotes on the neighborhood.
Like hey, did you know that Hitchcock filmed most of his movies around Shoreditch?

He showed us Wesley Chapel, where Margaret Thatcher was married, and then the location of an old secret MI5 prison; later we walked through the Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, where William Blake’s grave is located.

But the thing I enjoyed the most though, was listening to Henri openly talk about his life as a homeless, about discrimination and the gap between the rich and the poor.
With 50,000 people living in the streets, it’s compelling to do something about it; taking a tour with them is a way for you to help, and you won’t regret it, guaranteed.
Join them for a mind blowing tour that will inspire you and give you a unique view of London.

“Anyone can become homeless”, says Henri at one point, “Anyone”.
And I’m standing there, thinking.

The Unseen Tours is an award winning social enterprise organizing unique London walking tours in the neighborhoods of Camden, Covent Garden, Shoreditch and the London Bridge.

In the weekend tours are walk-in while in the week you need to book through their website. Tours are about two hours long and cost £12 for adults. Definitely add this tour to your itinerary!ù

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Have you participated in a walking tour by “Unseen Tours”? Is there anything like that in your hometown? I’d love to hear from you!