Author: Janice Higgins

I Have Never Looked Back!

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This week marks the first birthday of All in for Change! 

All in for Change wouldn’t be what it is today without the passion of the Change Team. It is their unique skills and personalities which drive the programme and influence change.

Alison Kennedy reflects on here experience of being part of this collaborative team:

In December 2019, I was successful in becoming a Change Lead for All in For Change after my manager suggested I would be a good addition to the team. My key skills include my ability to collaborate across housing, health and social care, addictions services, justice and the third sector. I am highly skilled at working outside and across traditional boundaries and always try to develop joined up approaches. I am naturally good at this as I am a positive, outgoing person with a down-to-earth nature that enables me to form effective relationships with a range of stakeholders. I am glad to say my skill set has been complimentary to the aims and vision of All in For Change and I am thankful I applied, and I have never looked back! I am passionate about working in homelessness services and about promoting a culture that embeds kindness, dignity and compassion. Since working in social services, I have developed better awareness of the shame, stigma and isolation that people who experience homelessness can feel and understand how important it is for us as a nation to be well-informed and well-trained in responding to trauma, addictions and mental ill-health. It is really exciting to be part of a group of people who are on the same page and be involved in something where I can work with others who share my passion to effect real change.

Being a Change Leadhas been such a fantastic opportunity to begin to build relationships with people  who have lived experience of homelessness and who work in homelessness and to join forces to influence policy and strategy and make strides in turning that into real change on the ground. It has been great working with people who share the same knowledge and understanding of the root causes and drivers of homelessness, and the importance of social connections in a persons’ life as well as an understanding as to how these relationships act as a mechanism to tackle and end the cycle of homelessness. It feels like we are in something together that has the potential to be worthwhile and bring about change.

One of the highlights of being a Change Lead has been the monthly retreats where we get together for the day to hash out of plan of action. Both the ones we managed to have in person in Falkirk and the subsequent ones online as a result of Covid have been excellent. I have been able to get to know people who have lived experience which has been profound and humbling. Now, I am continuing to build on the connections I have made and am excited to join forces with my fellow Change Leads. For example, William Wright from Shelter and I are collaborating to further improve our respective services and really show what joined up working is all about. I have also worked in partnership with Viki Fox from Cyrenians and the thought of how much more we can do together is refreshing and a real opportunity we can’t miss. Together, we have been able to break down so many of the usual barriers to effective joint working and work towards our shared goals which the Change Team has solidified.

I have had countless opportunities being a Change Lead, one of the biggest for me so far was being invited to speak alongside other professionals about the importance of relationships at the ‘Safe As Houses’ Scotland’s Annual Homelessness Conference in November which I absolutely loved and would recommend to anyone to get involved if the chance arises. There really is no better opportunity to be able to speak to others about what you are passionate about and what you bring to the table. For me, this is where I feel I have the biggest influence as people get the chance to hear what I have to say and can decide to get on board with me for real partnership working and collaboration.

BLOG: Time to Shelve the System?

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Homeless Network Scotland has joined Mayday Trust, Changing Lives and Platfform in a UK-wide alliance that provides a place for those that live or work in a system they want to change. Maggie Brunjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland, blogs as part of the launch week.

When the supermarket shelves were run dry at the start of lockdown, it got me thinking for the first time about the systems and mechanisms that underpin the smooth running of big supermarkets. We had some time on our hands.

Customer demand drives what supermarkets provide, how much and how often. We are free to enter and leave with mutual benefit, having exercised choice over what we want. We don’t really see or feel those systems or give them much thought – because they largely work for us. But at the start of the year, the supermarket systems didn’t (couldn’t) respond with enough flexibility, and for a moment it affected us all.

An unseen system that bends flexibly to what people want is exactly what this New System Alliance wants for people going through their toughest times. We need to put lives first – and build systems around them. Because when we do it the other way – try to fit people to services – the system becomes inefficient, it perpetuates the worst parts of itself and enforces its norms to survive. And this means people get overlooked, or segregated, damaged by their experience – or just opt out altogether.

We all see when it works well, which is why we can see when it doesn’t. For most of us living and working within these systems, we know it doesn’t always build from what works – and often forgets what matters. Too often the entry point becomes the same label stuck on us – mental health, addictions, offender, rough sleeper, vulnerable, challenging, complex, chaotic. And a labyrinth of services and systems, of policies and procedures, of rules and regulations. It is a system unable to connect in a way that prevents people from falling through the gaps and which frustrates the people who want to help. And this waste of human potential – and expense of getting it wrong – affects us all.

So, what does a new system look like? What do we take and what do we shelve? The New System Alliance is a place to keep talking and to start building. For me, this change needs at the very least:

  • To really feature people – lots of people, the critical mass needed to create real and lasting change. Building from the magic ingredient of relationships, how we all connect and interact with each other – that people make systems, in all our different ways.
  • To value normality – home, community, safety, wellbeing, recognition, love. The most basic ingredients to build and live our lives, and what most people are trying to secure. Yet these are the very things that are most often removed or replaced with ‘professional’ alternatives when people really need them most.
  • To recognise the unfairness at the root of hard lives, which means some of us are much more likely than others to experience mental ill-health, addictions, homelessness, the justice system, trauma, abuse and violence.
  • To be preventative, anticipatory, flexible and responsive. A system that puts people first, with choice and control, and provides a soft cushion for people going through tough times, not a hard edge.
  • To build from what’s strong, rather than what’s wrong. Without segregating people from their communities, trying to ‘fix’ or patronise adults – and without driving a wedge of difference and distance between all our connected lives.

The pandemic has created the opportunity to think and act big. In Scotland, there is already a determined policy environment – some of the most progressive voices in the drive for big systems-change are coming from within national and local government and across the health and social care service. But we need more help to convert that radical big thinking into real change on the ground and create together a better, fairer, experience for everyone.

More at www.newsystemalliance.org or drop us a line at hello@homelessnetwork.scot

PRESS RELEASE: Two Parliaments to End Homelessness

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Thirty organisations in Scotland that care about homelessness, including charities, leading academics and people with lived experience, are today calling on political parties, MSPs and candidates in next year’s Scottish Parliament elections to get behind a ten-year plan to end homelessness.

As political parties finalise manifesto pledges and prospective candidates declare, this third Route Map to be published since the start of the pandemic by the Everyone Home Collective asks the Scottish Parliament to get behind five key asks in a 10-year commitment straddling two parliamentary terms.

The five key asks are:

• Prioritise prevention
• More homes
• End rough sleeping
• No evictions into homelessness
• Systems change


Maggie Brünjes, Chief executive at Homeless Network Scotland, said:

“Homelessness is not inevitable, or an unsolvable problem. The causes are predictable and we know who is most at risk – we can end homelessness in Scotland over two parliaments. Scotland already has a robust policy environment in place that we want to see strengthened and ramped up over the next decade to get everyone home.

“Sustaining the cross-party accord on tackling homelessness that underpins the current approach in Scotland, and continuing this into the next Parliament and beyond, would provide consistency and stability. It would enable everyone to build on progress so far and complete the infrastructure that will consign homelessness to history.”

Alison Watson, Shelter Scotland Director, said:

“Reducing affordable housing need must be a central ambition of the next Scottish Parliament. Delivering the social and affordable homes we need is the only way to tackle the root causes of rising homelessness, and it will help Scotland meet its climate targets and reduce poverty and inequality.

“Our next intake of MSPs have the power to achieve this, and it’s the single most important step they can take toward a safer, healthier, fairer future.”

Lorraine McGrath, CEO of Simon Community Scotland said:

“We have seen just how possible it is to reach, engage and resolve people’s experience of homelessness, even those facing the most extreme challenges, when the right combination of resources, partnership and the absolute will to make things happen combine. What was achieved for people experiencing rough sleeping in the early days of lockdown was remarkable, but not entirely unexpected, we have always known it was possible with the right conditions in place.

“That experience underpins this route map, making it a simple choice for our politicians.”

Janet Haugh, CEO of Ypeople, said:

“Last year Ypeople helped end homelessness for more than 3,000 people through accommodation services and community support. Since March, there has been a huge amount of work and unprecedented steps taken by local authorities and other organisations to make sure people can isolate safety during Covid-19. However, as we come through this pandemic, we risk a huge spike of people of all ages facing homelessness across Scotland.

“By working together, we can all play a role in rebuilding our local communities and end homelessness in Scotland for good.”


The 30 organisations in Everyone Home have written to all of Scotland’s political parties urging them to back the proposals contained in the latest Route Map and plan to meet their representatives in the coming weeks and months leading up to the election in May. View and download our Route Map for Scottish Parliament here.

New System Alliance Launch: Monday 30 Nov

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The New System Alliance will launch on Monday, with a week-long series of online events to explore new ways forward for cross-sector system change in the UK.  

The aim of the Alliance is to provide an opportunity to listen, to be heard and to look at solutions to bring about total system change. It will act as a home for those who have felt frustrated, unheard or invisible, whether coming from a place of direct experience or working in services, funding and commissioning.  

This initiative was built on the voices heard from people trapped in this failing system. In these conversations people shared their honest experiences of homelessness, social care, mental health, and criminal justice systems – their wisdoms. The response was overwhelming, highlighting many situations where systems have become a barrier that people needed to be overcome in order to move on with their lives. 

Homeless Network Scotland are proud to join partners across the UK to support people to take control, and together make systems work better for everyone. 

Please join us to celebrate the launch of this empowering initiative by registering to attend these free events: https://newsystemalliance.org/

Acronyms Aweigh! HARSAG And EHT For Frontline Workers

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Join us on Tuesday 8 December 1-4pm for our latest members’ event, Acronyms Aweigh! HARSAG and EHT for Frontline Workers.

The Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Action Group (HARSAG) made over 100 recommendations in July 2020. Scottish Government and COSLA included these in the new Ending Homelessness Together (EHT) plan published in October 2020.

We will be hosting this free reflective workshop for frontline workers from all sectors across Scotland to explore these new priorities and what they mean for people working every day in frontline roles.

We will provide an overview of the HARSAG recommendations and how these were carried into the EHT plan. And reflect together on what the four main themes – prioritise prevention, settled housing options, equalities competence and responsive systems – mean for people working in direct frontline roles.

The event will take place on Microsoft Teams, so if you wish to join us please register here.

We hope to see you there!