Uncovered Voices is a new booklet of creative writing by users of The Two Saints Day Centre in Southampton.

The centre, set up to offer learning opportunities of many kinds to homeless people in the area, has been encouraging creative writing for four years, and the range and quality of writing in their latest booklet is a testament to its success.

Of all the groups in society homeless people are probably those whose self-confidence is most fragile and whose hopes and dreams have been most buried by the difficulties of life on the street.

According to the centre's team leader, Jane Cadle-Hartridge, creative writing has had a tremendously positive impact on visitors to the centre. She added: "Through creative writing we help homeless people rediscover their hopes and dreams, and become better communicators. Some of them did not know they could write poetry or stories, and in some cases the creative writing has helped them with basic literacy, too."

The booklet has all kinds of writing: poems, short stories and comment, showing an impressive range of feeling and wit. I've featured three of the pieces here and hope to include more in the Daily Poem slot in the Daily Echo. Copies of the booklet can be obtained from Two Saints Centre, 20 Cranbury Avenue, Southampton SO14 0LT.