From Duncan Singh, a researcher with the Tiger Aspect television production company, comes a request so off-the-wall that we could not bring ourselves to say no.
Could Salut! Sunderland please help publicise the company’s work on a three-part series, to be hosted by a Sunderland supporter, for Channel 4 about housing issues in the UK. One of the aims is to look at what can be done about the shortfall in affordable accommodation nationally.
So where do we come into this?
“At present we are just in the primary stages of research and are looking to talk to people about their housing experiences,” says Duncan. “I was wondering if Salut! Sunderland members (he makes it sound like a secretive little club – ed) would be able to help with that as their understanding and knowledge of the local area would be second to none.”
Duncan adds that the series will be fronted by George Clarke (pictured), an architect born and raised in the Sunderland area and a “massive Black Cats fan since he was a small boy who will be visiting the Stadium of Light in the next few weeks”.
This is his explanation of how you can help:
“We are trying to put a human face on the housing crisis.
We are looking for people who may feel for example that they may never be able to purchase their own house, they may live in housing that is not suitable for themselves or their family or they may have been forced to live with family or friends due to housing difficulties.
If you know of any persons, couples or families who are having issues with their housing it would be great to speak to them as part of our initial research.
We are aiming to fairly represent Sunderland in the programme and we can only do that if we can speak to local people affected by these issues. Any assistance would be much appreciated.”
If you can help contact click to enlarge the poster which contains phone and e-mail contact details.