Homelessness is an ever growing crisis in the UK, particularly during the bitterly cold nights in December as people struggle to find a warm place to shelter.

Melita Cameron-Wood, an MA film student at University College London, in King’s Cross, is co-producing a docudrama called Sleeping Rough, which follows the lives of three individuals and their journey to living on the streets.

The 22-year-old, who lives in Camden and graduated with an undergraduate degree in French and German at the University of Oxford, aims to educate about the realities of rough sleeping, homelessness and poverty in England today and hopes the project will continue after the film's release in July 2017.

Melita has launched a Kickstarter campaign, which ends on Wednesday, December 14, in order to raise £5,000 to fund her film project.

She explains the issue of homelessness is a topic that everyone can relate to…

What is the difference between a docudrama and a documentary?

A docudrama is based on facts that we have been told, but some of the assertions have been reformulated slightly and put into scripted sections. The primary reason for this was that many of the individuals we spoke to did not want to be seen on camera as the information they were disclosing was acutely personal.

We therefore fashioned the stories that we had been told into the tales of three individuals and their journey to homelessness. In between this scripted section, we intersperse real voice recordings. In order to keep everything as authentic as possible we will only be using actors who either are or previously were homeless.

Can you tell me about the Kickstarter campaign?

The Kickstarter campaign launched on 14th November and is due to end on 14th December. We aim to raise 5K in that time. So far, people have pledged £3,715, but we will only be able to access these funds if we make it above the 5K marker, so every donation is so important to us.

Is this an issue close to your heart?

I have never been homeless personally, but I have noticed the dramatic increase in homelessness in the UK in recent years and wanted to do something, however small, to help raise awareness.

The concrete concept of a home is something that is familiar to everyone and I think it is relatable to everyone.

I worked for three months in a theatre with refugees and prisoners in Germany in 2014 and spoke to many of these individuals about their stories of travel, being uprooted and without a home. Ever since that experience, I realised that I wanted to work with communities and talk to people about their stories and troubles and find a vector of communication for these stories. People bring us knowledge and knowledge brings us change.

How are you raising awareness about the campaign?

We are releasing a song in conjunction with the film, which will be adapted from a poem that we received from Miguel Dean, who was homeless for seven years, but is now an author of Stepping Stones in the Mist, Life Lessons for Overcoming Adversity and tours schools and groups giving talks on youth empowerment and social change. The song will be sung by Paul John Bailey, a street musician from Bristol and the music will be composed by Daniel Baboulene, a friend of mine from Oxford, who studied music.

I also recently organised a massage-yoga event in aid of Sleeping Rough Film and Crisis. The proceeds from the massages, which I provided, went to the Kickstarter campaign and the proceeds from the Yoga Class, run by Anna Tankel, went to Crisis.

What will you keep doing after the Kickstarter campaign?

After the Kickstarter campaign, we will move onto the auditioning phase. We are in conversation with Cardboard Citizens, the patron of which is Kate Winslet. Cardboard Citizens offers homeless people interested in acting the chance to take part in drama projects and provides homeless people with the chance to see and participate in theatre. We will then begin filming from late January and late February time.

I am also appealing to creative individuals to submit drawings, music, photos to us on the theme of 'homelessness' as we want to get people talking and thinking about homelessness in a more nuanced way and we want to see people's responses to the topic. If I receive enough submissions, I intend to exhibit them and turn them into a journal format. We wish to continue campaigning and raising awareness of homelessness in the UK after the film's production - fighting stereotypes and educating are two of our key goals.

To find out more about the campaign, visit: kickstarter.com/projects/owainastles/sleeping-rough