Priyanka, 28, and Damiano, 30, met in 2014 when he made a documentary about a library project she’d launched for the homeless community. They now live together in London and plan to marry next year
Priyanka was in her final year of a journalism course at Kingston University London when she had an idea for a new community initiative. “I was interning with the UN Association,” she says, “and one day I came across a homeless man who was reading a book to pass the time. It sparked an idea.” Soon after, she launched Spread the Word, an initiative to open mini libraries in homeless shelters. “I got press releases published in news outlets about what I was doing,” she says.
In May 2014, Damiano was studying for an MA in documentary film at the London College of Communication when he stumbled across Priyanka’s project. “I’d been asked to make a film on any topic and decided on the issue of homelessness,” he says. After approaching some homeless men at a church, one of them gave him his number for an interview. “I didn’t have my phone on me so he scribbled it on the back of a magazine called the Pavement, which is published for the homeless community,” he says. “When I got home, I started to read it and that’s where I learned about the Spread the Word project.”
Want to share your story? Tell us a little about yourself, your partner and how you got together by filling in the form here.
