Delegates at Scotland’s annual homelessness conference on 29 and 30 October will be tasked with creating a route-map out of the housing and homelessness emergency.
The focus of Right Here, Right Now is what action taken now can ease the escalating crisis and what needs to happen next to create a better long-term future. Insight will be gathered through sessions and debates hooked on four urgent themes – Housing Supply, Supporting People, Rights and Duties, and Prevention.
Keynote guests at the event at Perth Concert Hall, delivered in partnership with The Salvation Army, include TV presenter, mental health advocate and motivational speaker Gail Porter, who has experienced homelessness.
Housing Minister Paul McLennan will address conference and be quizzed on stage by members of the All in For Change team who have lived experience of homelessness.
And in another must-see set piece, Alison Watson, director of Shelter Scotland, will interview Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
This year’s conference is the first since the Scottish Government declared a national housing emergency. Twelve local authorities have declared their own emergencies.
And it comes weeks after annual homelessness statistics released by the Scottish Government revealed rising homelessness applications, rough sleeping, and more than 10,000 children now living in temporary accommodation.
Sessions and debates over the 2 days cover issues including the housing emergency, the impact of hostile UK immigration policy in Scotland, making wider prevention duties in the Housing Bill work, and how to support increasingly pressurised frontline staff.
Helen Murdoch, Assistant Director Strategic Operations and Development (Scotland), with The Salvation Army, said: “The Salvation Army is proud to support this year’s conference, helping to ensure Scotland’s third sector continues to speak with a collective voice on the big issues connected to homelessness.
“In harnessing our collective will, we narrow the gap between great policy and what people are seeing and experiencing. The recent homelessness statistics provide added focus and a sense of urgency. Every 16 minutes in Scotland, someone becomes homeless.
“Over the past decade there has been an 87 per cent rise in the number of homeless households who have both mental health and substance use support needs. This event brings together expertise and experience in these fields and more, all vital to ending homelessness for good.”
Maggie Brünjes, chief executive, Homeless Network Scotland, said: “The people in the room in Perth will bring unrivalled expertise and opinion on what needs to happen to ensure people are prioritised, and the sector united, during a housing emergency.
“You only have to look at the line-up of guests, and to know the kind of supporters who come to the conference, to know that this is the right group of people to set in motion change for the better.”