Author: Jamie Milne

Annual homelessness conference 2025 programme

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Housing scarcity is Scotland’s defining issue, driving homelessness and undermining health, education, equality and community safety. Fixing it unlocks progress on every front. Scotland’s Annual Homelessness Conference 2025, It’s Personal: The human face of the housing emergency, will explore the real-world impact of and solutions to the emergency.

A fantastic line-up of experts, advocates and people with personal experience of homelessness will come together for the 2-day event – packed with must-hear keynotes, engaging and insightful roundtable discussions, deep dive breakout sessions and more.

You’ll find a link to the full programme below, but here’s a taste of what you can expect.

Keynote speakers

Eireann McAuley: From childhood adversity to inspirational activism, Eireann is fiercely dedicated to tackling inequality, injustice and poverty. As well as being a teacher, Eireann is one of Scotland’s youngest trade union officials and has been named as one of the country’s most inspiring young women on the Young Women’s Movement ‘30 Under 30’ list.

Baroness Floella Benjamin: A pioneering star of stage and screen, former host of BBC TV’s Play School, award-winning writer, campaigner and prominent Windrush voice, Baroness Benjamin has overcome adversity and prejudice since she arrived in Britain aged 10 to achieve stellar success in her career and champion diversity and childhood wellbeing.

Cabinet Secretary for Housing Màiri McAllan makes her conference debut in her new role. The Cabinet Secretary will deliver a keynote and join Breakthrough on Homelessness in Scotland – a dynamic panel session which will also offer the international perspective, academic knowledge, lived experience insight and expertise on housing delivery at scale.

Juha Kahila, Head Of International Affairs at Y-Säätiö in Finland, will share inspiration from the Nordic Homelessness Alliance, which brings together key organisations from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden with the aim of eradicating homelessness in the Nordic Region.

Hustings on the housing emergency

What will the next Scottish Government do to tackle the housing emergency? With the Holyrood election coming in May 2026, representatives from political parties will be invited to share their plans in a hustings chaired by Shelter Scotland director Alison Watson.

A celebration of our frontline workforce

Winners of the Heart of Support Awards for frontline excellence will be announced and honoured among an appreciative audience of peers, colleagues and people who have benefited from support – with short films to showcase each of the six selected nominees.

We hope you can join us at Perth Concert Hall in October – there’s a lot going on over the 2 days, as you’ll see in the full programme. Find a link below along with booking options.

Conference Programme

Celebrate the Heart of Support: nominate an outstanding frontline worker

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All over Scotland, people working in frontline homelessness services go all out to make the difference for people they support. We often hear about them, and you will have too. 

An Associate of HNS described their experience of a trusted worker as having “that one person who sticks around and sticks up for you.” 

At Scotland’s annual homelessness conference, the Heart of Support Awards will honour and highlight great work being done by people who support people during the housing emergency. 

Why nominate?

Across the 2-day event in Perth on 27-28 October 2025, we will platform a diverse range of colleagues who go above and beyond every day for people they support – to represent and celebrate this key workforce in roles including caseworkers, advisors, support workers, housing officers, social workers, coaches, counsellors and more. 

The 6 nominees who are selected will receive an award engraved with their name, a £200 cash payment and VIP entry to the conference including meals and accommodation. 

And they will have the chance to tell delegates about their work – the successes, the challenges, why they do what they do. This will be captured in a short video showreel, coproduced with the winners to be presented at the conference.  

How we will select 

This year’s conference is titled It’s Personal: the human face of the housing emergency. Across 2 days the event themes are Safe, Well, Respected and In Control, exploring the real-world impact of the emergency on people and the solutions for a better future. 

The conference themes will guide the panel to select nominees that represent all parts of the country, across all sectors and in different types of frontline roles. We are keen to hear about those who champion new or impactful approaches that get alongside people to ensure they are: 


🧡 Safe: prioritising people’s immediate safety  

🧡 Well: supporting people’s health and wellbeing 

🧡 Respected: advocating for rights and redressing inequality  

🧡 In Control: helping to increase people’s agency and financial inclusion 
 

Here’s how to nominate 

Tell us in around 150 words how your nominee’s way of working makes the difference. It could be about their persistence, methods, the relationships they build, challenging how things are done, innovating – please know, it doesn’t have to be perfect. 

Please do make sure your colleague agrees to being nominated, can meet with us ahead to create a video – and is available to be celebrated at the conference in Perth. 

Deadline for nominations! For your important entry to be considered, please be sure to send it to us by Friday 19 Sept 2025. Just click the button for the short nomination form.

Nomination form

August Network Briefing

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This month’s Network Briefing includes new research on subjects including refuge accommodation and ethnicity and homelessness. You’ll also find events and launches from Shelter Scotland and Citizens Advice Scotland, plus news, training opportunities and more.

Click below to access the new briefing and subscribe to get it delivered straight to your inbox every month.

August briefing

GHIFT’s key role in designing new WAYfinder service

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A new unified model of support for people experiencing homelessness in Glasgow launches today – shaped by the expertise and priorities of people who’ve been there.

The blueprint for the new WAYfinder service was co-designed by Glasgow Homelessness Involvement & Feedback Team (GHIFT) a team of Homeless Network Scotland Associates with direct experience of homelessness, working alongside service providers and commissioners from Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (GCHSCP).

The design process took place across five sessions hosted by Homeless Network Scotland last year as part of a collaboration called All in for Glasgow.

GHIFT members used their experiences of accessing support in the city to shape the principles and focus of the service and add fine detail on how it would work best on the ground. Leading homelessness charities from across the city shared their expertise and insights – and their aspirations for transformative services.

The name stems from team member James Stampfer’s insight that good quality relational support starts with a worker asking “Who Are You?”– emphasising the importance of understanding each person’s strengths and their journey.

The All in for Glasgow sessions examined how to join up community services, public services and specialist support services commissioned by GCHSCP for people navigating homelessness. The ambition is to ensure the right services at the right time, where people have maximum choice and control toward a life beyond services.

WAYfinder is designed to provide joined-up support so people don’t have to tell their stories repeatedly to get support from different parts of the system. A service model that works to combat the harmful effects on people of homelessness and reduce exclusion of marginalised groups were also identified as priorities by GHIFT.

GHIFT members have welcomed the start of the new services. Martin Boyle said: “I hope WAYfinder does what the name says, by providing a seamless approach to support for people to navigate the system with a worker alongside them. I want people to feel supported through their journey and have someone who sticks with them.

“It’s a great thing because it emphasises supporting people in communities rather than traditional ways of support. It’s a totally new way of support having organisations working together and connecting people in with their communities.”

Jeremy Wylie added: “I enjoyed having the level of responsibility GHIFT held throughout the process, especially when we evaluated the submissions. I felt like we were really an equal part of something and made an important contribution for a cause that we all believe in.”

Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership said: “Teams across the HSCP, in conjunction with people with lived experience of homelessness, have been working to develop a new service, WAYfinder, to deliver outreach services for people experiencing homelessness, which starts today.

“The HSCP thanks Homeless Network Scotland and the Associates from the Glasgow Homelessness Involvement Feedback Team for their work in developing the new service and looks forward to working with the WAYfinder partner providers in this important step in our efforts to help people find their way into settled, sustainable and secure housing.”

Today marks a day when the GHIFT team once again show the depth of their individual expertise and collective commitment, and the irreplaceable value of working with people who really know what homelessness looks and feels like.

⏩ Read the Glasgow City HSCP announcement.

Homeless Network Scotland Board appoints new treasurer

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Homeless Network Scotland has appointed Alex MacEachin as Treasurer to the Board.

Chartered Accountant Alex trained and practised at multinational giant BDO and has extensive experience in property and construction finance. He joins HNS from real estate investment firm LXi REIT where he was finance director of the company’s Investment Advisor arm.

Alex is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen and specialises in real estate. He has a background in leading public companies, managing investor relations, debt origination, equity raises, mergers and acquisitions, and all operational matters. He relocated from London to Glasgow earlier this year following a merger.

Homeless Network Scotland is the national membership body for organisations and individuals committed to ending homelessness in Scotland.

The board of HNS is at the forefront of this work and Alex joins a dedicated and passionate group with decades of experience and expertise.

Alex said:  “It is impossible to ignore the impact rising homelessness is having on people and communities across Scotland. I welcome the chance to use my skills and knowledge to assist the work of Homeless Network Scotland and the Board.”

Homeless Network Scotland board chair, Jackie Erdman, said: “We’re delighted that Alex has chosen to join us to provide financial oversight for our organisation.

“Alex joins a board dedicated to the sector-wide effort to tackle the current housing emergency and to the creation of systems that prevent and resolve homelessness for people more effectively in future.”