Exhibition celebrating work of Unseen Tours opens

14 hours ago

Gem O'Reilly and Rosemary McCabeLondon

The exhibition, called Street Level, spotlights the tour guides working at Unseen Tours

Gem O'Reilly An exhibition space with tall boxes in a room. The boxes have pictures and text, telling the stories of the tour guides working for Unseen Tours. — The exhibition, called Street Level, spotlights the tour guides working at Unseen Tours

A new photo exhibition celebrating the work of Unseen Tours, a social enterprise that supports people affected by homelessness to become tour guides, has opened in east London this weekend.

Called Street Level, it spotlights the stories of the tour guides and marks 15 years since the London-based enterprise started.

Unseen Tours want Londoners to visit the free exhibition, which features photography by Jennie Blythe, to see the city through a different lens.

Anyone can go without a booking to the space in the art'otel, Hoxton, from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 March.

'Humbling and powerful'

Jasmine Awad, CEO of Unseen Tours, said: "Our tours really give people an opportunity to stop for a second and engage and interact with people who have experienced homelessness, learn about it, understand what it means, understand how it can really affect everyone.

"It's quite humbling and it's so powerful."

Unseen Tours aims to challenge perceptions of homelessness by putting people who have lived experience of homelessness at the centre of stories about the city.

Since 2010, it has trained 30 guides and hosted thousands of guests around the city.

Today, guides give tours across King's Cross, Brixton, Canary Wharf and Westminster. They choose the route, shape what they share, and are paid 60% of every public tour ticket sold.

Jasmine Awad said Unseen Tours has a tiny but mighty team

Gem O'Reilly A woman with brown curly hair and wearing a long-sleeved black top and yellow earrings stands in front of exhibition billboards. — Jasmine Awad said Unseen Tours has a tiny but mighty team

More than 200,000 Londoners are estimated to be homeless and living in temporary accommodation, according to an update from London Councils in December 2025.

This includes more than 100,000 homeless children, an 8% increase since the previous year and a 35% increase compared to 2021, said London Councils.

The exhibition was created with Tripadvisor's social impact team, following the five-star reviews shared by visitors after the tours.

Juan Carlos from Better Green Group, another partner of the event, said: "We're skating on thin ice sometimes in life, and most of us maybe have had some misfortune, and we're very close to being homeless sometimes.

"So detach yourself from social media, come down, see something amazing and support Unseen Tours."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk