In Liverpool, we’re continuing the Invisible Cities mission to create something really positive in tourism that is designed to directly support people impacted by homelessness.
As lots of our supporters and guests will know, we support, mentor and train people who have experienced homelessness to be walking tour guides – telling their stories, their way. We work with people to explore a new skill, learn about public speaking and storytelling, all so if they want to, they can train to be a walking tour guide and take people on guided tours of their own city.
Big Life Group who run The Big Issue has teamed up with us and Liverpool Famous Walking Tours to encourage people who are looking for career opportunities, to work with us all and learn to become guides.
Invisible Cities was originally founded in Edinburgh in 2016 and works with organisations across 6 existing cities – Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, York, Manchester and Cardiff – and soon to be in Liverpool as well as the Scottish Borders.
Now launching in Liverpool for 2026 as part of the mission to launch 10 cities in 10 years, three new guides – Danielle and ‘the two Daves’ have successfully completed their training and onboarding, and have designed their own walking tours, based on their interests, and their tours will be available to book on the website soon.
As a social enterprise that supports people often overlooked for work opportunities, we help people to capitalise on their existing skills and build their confidence. We focus on storytelling, public speaking and customer engagement. The team and guides are lead by founder Zakia Moulaoui Guery and supported by a wider team, co-ordinators and marketing assistants.
Our partnership with popular tour guide company Liverpool Famous Walking Tours means that we are able to bring their incredible knowledge and insights from running successful tours in the city to inspire and education our brand new trainee guides.
All proceeds from tour booking go towards covering the employed living wage for all guides and the remainder reinvested into training and supporting more people who have experienced homelessness in Liverpool.
The cost of temporary accommodation in Liverpool has increased hugely since the pandemic, creating a direct effect on the number of people experiencing homelessness in the city. So with tourism booming in Liverpool and a year on year growth in visitor numbers, bringing together the two challenges and using tourism as a catalyst in proving hugely successful not just in Liverpool but across the UK.
