The slums of India may seem a far cry from the homeless problem of Sussex.

But homeless charities in the UK believe we may be able to learn from the slum dwellers of India.

In that country people can be found sleeping in cramped conditions alongside railway lines where children grow up in squalor, with no basic amenities.

Ten representatives from the UK will be flown out to Bombay on Wednesday for a ten-day trip during which they will see for themselves what homeless people can achieve under the harshest conditions.

All the representatives have first-hand experience of homelessness.

Carol Waller, 32 will be representing the Sussex-based charity, New Futures Association, which supports travellers and liaises with police and local authorities.

The mother-of-four, who has been a traveller for the last 15 years, knows only too well the difficulties of having nowhere to live.

She became homeless at the age of 16, having been in care all her life.

She had to fend for herself and since then has lived on various travellers sites, including one in Lewes.

Today she lives in a council-owned property in Kingston, near Lewes.

She said: "There are a lot of similarities between street projects in India and those going on in places such as Brighton.

"While there, we'll meet with people from the Slum Dwellers Federation of Bombay, who have proved that homeless people can have a voice."

Bombay has the largest slums in Asia, with 20,000 households living beside railways.

Slum dwellers often have their settlements demolished in organised clearance programs by the municipal authorities.

But the federation has educated the dwellers and helped them build up their own savings.

Before, they may have had to stand by as their homes were destroyed, but now they are able to plan their own re-settlement and help themselves.

Carol said: "We will look at the way in which the slum dwellers have escaped from horrendous living conditions. We'll see how they have relocated themselves on to government-owned land, though they've had to fund everything else themselves.

"They have shown that homeless people are resourceful and not lazy, as often thought and have proved there are solutions to poverty.

"We just need the energy and drive to get ourselves organised in this country. It will be inspiring to see how the poorest are being taken seriously by the Indian Parliament."

Carol admitted the housing problem was far more widespread in Bombay than in Sussex, but believed we should not wait until people faced real poverty before something constructive was done.

She said: "Homeless people and travellers in Brighton need to learn how to deal with legislation. That's what our association aims to do.

"Just like in Bombay, we deal with people who are marginalised and socially excluded. We liaise between travellers and officials and try to create a level playing field. We are a grass roots group.

"Nomadism is an historic and valid way of life. This is a migratory island, made up of different groups of people, who all have a lot to offer, but need to have their voice heard."