JESS FOLLOWING PARENTS WITH HOMELESS WORK
AS a child Jess Turtle had no idea growing up surrounded by a “family” of hundreds was not the norm.
Her parents founded The Wallich homeless charity and it was only when she started going to friends’ houses she realised her home was unusual.
But years on and Jess is following in her parents’ footsteps – with a project entitled the Museum of Homelessness.
“I was born and bred in a community of homeless people in Cardiff, a charity called The Wallich. It has become very successful now,” the 37-year-old said.
“In the 1970s it was started by my parents as a way of working with homeless people.
“My dad had been in a homeless hostel in London and when he got his life together he wanted to give something back.”
When Jess was 19 she was shown the bench her father slept on in London.
“He was from the north-east and came to London in his early 20s, like many young people, to find his fortune.
“But he did not find that and he ended up on the streets.”
He was helped by the Simon Community, another homelessness organisation.
“So they named The Wallich after its founder, Anton Wallich-Clifford,” Jess said.
“It was a really wonderful experience, like having a really big extended family. There was a lot of warmth. It was in an old tobacco warehouse in Broadway which is a road in Splott.
“It was big enough to fit 36 people in but there were often more people than that. We would not turn people away if it was snowing for example.
“As it grew the Wallich got five other properties in the surrounding area where people could move to.
“There were quite a lot of people, a few hundred people in the community.”
The Wallich became “quite well integrated” within the area.
“The first house was offered by the