Barons Court Project Running Fundraiser for Loft Studio
More space needed for contributors to HomeLess Made
Guan Chow is a founding contributor to HomeLess Made. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga/My London
January 17, 2026
It was the colours that drew him to painting. Having lost his job, and later his home, following the 2008 financial crash, Mr Chow picked up his brush as a hobby partly to help manage his mental health.
“I think I like the colours because myself, at that time, I suffered severe mental health issues,” he said. “So I was really desperate and very, very depressed, and the colours make me happy. When you are down you really need to look for something for comfort, so the colours, really they brightened up my mood.”
It was not until the 2020 Covid lockdown however that he was encouraged by the Director of charity Barons Court Project, Michael Angus, to consider selling some of his work as part of a new social enterprise.
HomeLess Made, as it was to be called, would provide a platform for artists who have experienced homelessness to sell some of their creations. Barons Court Project covers the functional costs, such as marketing, with the proceeds split 50/50 between the charity and the artist.
Beyond the financial benefits, Mr Chow said HomeLess Made has provided him with a necessary boost to his self-belief and an opportunity to showcase his considerable skills.
“We need to start to believe ourselves, and it gives me a lot of confidence that really yes, I can do it.”
Mr Chow had been attending Barons Court Project for several years by the time he was asked to be a founding contributor to HomeLess Made, having first approached the charity in 2015 while homeless. Barons Court Project, which operates from a base 10 minutes from West Kensington station, provides support to people living with mental health conditions or experiencing homelessness.
Started almost 40 years ago, it initially focussed on the former issue, though in recent years has become overwhelmingly concerned with individuals living on the streets.
Mr Angus, who joined in 2014, said the charity records around 800 to 900 guests a year, equating to some 14,000 visits. Those attending the hub come to meet a range of needs, whether a hot meal, a shower, to do some laundry or to take part in one of its activities, such as art classes.
Michael Angus at the Barons Court Project. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga/My London
The charity is a lifeline for many in Hammersmith and Fulham, and it is the only day centre supporting people either experiencing homelessness or mental health issues in the borough.
Mr Angus said a couple of years back he decided a change was required to enable more guests to benefit from its services.
He said: “Two years ago we were at crisis point, in that we had so many guests we were thinking we would have to go back to slots like we did during Covid. People might only be able to come in and get an hour’s respite from the cold, they might not be able to shower every day because the numbers were just rising, rising, rising.”
Since then the pressure on services, in particular from those requiring support for homelessness, has only increased.
Mr Angus said the growing numbers were due to “all sorts of reasons”, though added: “The main reason I think still is probably relationship breakdown of some sort, but we are seeing more people who are being priced out of accommodation, so rents rising, unable to pay the bills, losing their accommodation through that route.”
Following his realisation something needed to be done to host more guests, Mr Angus said he spoke to two architects about ways in which the existing site could be amended. One suggested building out into the back garden, though Mr Angus said the space was well-used and necessary.
The other option was to reconfigure the loft. While some storage space would be lost, Mr Angus said the plan is to turn the loft into a bespoke studio to be occupied by HomeLess Made artists and community classes.
This will allow the multi-purpose room in which the painting currently takes place to be extended into a larger lounge and library.
To help pay for the work Barons Court Project launched a fundraiser on SpaceHive in November.
At the time of writing it has secured almost £167,000 of its £359,348 target, which must be met by the end of March. More than 180 backers have shown their support so far, with Mr Angus saying Hammersmith and Fulham Council is also providing match-funding “to a high level”.
Central to the fundraising initiative is the new art studio, which it is hoped will enable HomeLess Made to grow. Mr Angus said the genesis for the idea came during the first Covid lockdown in 2020 when he saw some of the paintings Mr Chow and another guest, Lui Saatchi, were producing.
He said he asked whether the pair would be interested in some of their work being turned into cards, with the charity to cover essentials such as the marketing and production and the proceeds to be split 50/50.
Describing the moment he posed the question, Mr Angus said: “Guan and Lui looked at me and said ‘our art isn’t good enough’. And I went ‘well, I’m not an artist, but I would buy that design as a card. I think it’s good enough’. And then they looked at me and said ‘We are not good enough’. And I said ‘yes, you are’.”
And so HomeLess Made came into being. Since launching, Mr Angus said it has sold about 75,000 cards with orders coming from far-flung countries such as Singapore and British Columbia, and has expanded to cover items such as clothing and tote bags.
It brings in about £35,000 to £40,000 a year in sales and provides the six artists listed on the HomeLess Made website with an income for their work.
Asked about his passion for painting, Mr Chow said: “I did it for hobbies and pastime. So I really picked up painting when I was homeless because I went to all those charities, homeless sectors, and I joined services like here as well.”
Mr Angus added the enterprise, which has seen the artists’ work shown at exhibitions across the city, has also opened up conversations between people who ordinarily would be unlikely to interact.
“We will come across people who will say ‘I’ve never met a homeless person. I’ve never talked to one’.”
Mr Chow, who now has his own rented accommodation and whose situation has improved since first coming to Barons Court Project, said the scheme has given him a greater sense of belief in his own abilities.
“I think it has given me a lot of confidence. Bless Michael, Michael always believes in us. We don’t believe in ourselves. So with Michael’s guidelines it proved to us that we can do it. We need to start to believe ourselves, and it gives me a lot of confidence that really yes, I can do it.”
Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter
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