Rare, Brief & Unrepeated: The Homewards Mission

How cities can really change: What Homewards and nearly 10 years of Invisible Cities are achieving together. 

That’s what Homewards set out as it’s mission when it launched in 2023. A focused programme with a fixed end date, built to prove homelessness in the UK is solvable when the right people sit at the same table.

Three years in, and being invited to speak at the Homewards event in June was a reminder of what that mission looks like when it is done properly – and when we combine it with our mission of doing tourism differently it can have a real impact.

We prioritise training that treats people as experts, not projects. Employment that offers a role, not a rescue. Opportunities that build confidence in the doing and being. Skills that stay long after the programme ends. Connection that turns cities back into places people belong to and creates new community links that bring people together that may have never met otherwise.  That’s pretty special to us!

Meeting the first tour guest, again

It was an honour to be part of the June Homewards event – a garden party at Lambeth Palace was a great chance to meet other industry leaders making a difference. And the conference at Tate Modern was a full day of incredible speakers from across business, charities and community projects. And a very exciting opportunity to meet Homewards founder HRH Prince William.

He was the first ever guest on the Invisible Cities tour when we launched in Aberdeen. Back then he asked good questions and stayed longer than the schedule allowed so we were very happy! This time was no different. Still the same clear-eyed curiosity. What actually works, and how do we do more of it.

Between conversations, he shared some ideas for the future of Invisible Cities. 

The guides who make cities visible

Sonny has been guiding tours in Edinburgh for ten years this year. A decade of showing people the city he knows better than any guidebook writer ever will. The corners with the good stories. The quiet histories that never make the official map and the support services that have been there for him along the way.  He’s recognised in the street, has been on the BBC, in the Guardian and more!

Angus launched Aberdeen for us after choosing to come out of retirement. Retirement, it turned out, wasn’t for him. Neither was watching from the sidelines while there was still a city and it’s art to show people.

Danielle is our newest guide, walking her first tours in Liverpool which will be available to book very soon!

Three cities, three vantage points, one continuous piece of work – and our 10th city to be unveiled in September 2026.

A word from Zakia

Zakia Moulaoui Guery founded Invisible Cities in 2016. On what ten years has taught her:

“When we started, I wanted to build something that treated people as experts in their own cities. Ten years on, our guides have led thousands of guests through streets they know intimately, and the model still works because that first idea was the right one – that said, so many people said it couldn’t work – so we are here, with nearly 10 cities to share how proud we are of what we’ve achieved so far. Homewards is a rare kind of ambition. So is standing on a corner in your own city and telling its real story. Now we’re getting requests from around the world to launch in new cities – that’s a massive reward for all of the hard work”

Ten years, coming together in one night in Edinburgh

We turn ten on 1st October, and we’re marking it in the city where the whole thing started.

Gail Porter and Jon Watts are joining us as guests for the evening. Tickets and tables are still available, and we’d love you there too.

It’s a birthday celebration of 10 years building the second map of British cities. The one made of memory, relationships, and the expertise of people who were never supposed to be the ones giving the tour – but in reality, they are the best tour guides you could ever ask for.

Rare, brief and unrepeated is part of our overall aim – we do that by creating positive social and community impact and by always doing tourism differently.

Keep coming on tours, keep bringing groups, keep using us for the fun bit of your event or conference and keep spreading the word!