Earlier this year, Glasgow Homelessness Involvement and Feedback Team (GHIFT) investigated people’s experiences of using winter night shelters or welcome centres last winter. The team carried out a survey and interviewed people in three day centres, including a women’s service, to gather evidence of what’s happening on the ground right now and find out what people want prioritised in winter 2025-26. Their findings were published in the Homeless in winter report. GHIFT is a team of Associates of Homeless Network Scotland with first-hand experience of homelessness in Glasgow and at the forefront of work to improve services in the city. Below, team member Jeremy Wylie shares his experience of the project.
Glasgow in the winter is a challenging place. The cold and dark exacerbate the challenges people experiencing homelessness face, such as exposure and further isolation. As a team of people with lived experience of homelessness, many of us are aware of this issue and have slept rough in the winter.
So we wanted to turn our experiences into something constructive and positive. Night services play a vital role in helping people. GHIFT designed a survey of people using those services, so that the experiences of other people can inform solutions and strategies that will benefit everyone who needs support during the rough winter nights in future.

Designing the survey
Our goal in designing a survey was to gather evidence from people using night-time services to advocate for ways to improve this journey. While as a group we acknowledge that there can be trauma associated with shelters, we recognise that these places will continue to exist without better solutions being put in place.
We know there are better solutions, such as rapid rehousing into settled housing or access to community-based temporary furnished flats. But the immediate need for night-time services can’t be overlooked. The survey questions were carefully crafted to bring to light the experiences of individuals in order to identify the benefits and drawbacks of overnight services.
We included questions on people’s sense of safety and security, and challenges such as overcrowding and the lack of privacy. We knew it would not always be easy or comfortable for people to share their experiences, so we thanked participants with a £20 shopping voucher.
Conducting the research
Despite all members of GHIFT having an involvement in this project, three members conducted interviews with 16 individuals – 11 men and 5 women. We spoke to people in the day centres as we know how important it is to meet people where they are, in a familiar setting, with a central location and supporting a diverse range of people, all with different experiences.
To ensure the interviews were conducted ethically and respectfully, we obtained informed consent from each participant and assured them of their anonymity. The interviews were structured around the survey questions but we allowed room for open responses to capture a richer range of responses and experiences.
With all our feedback gathered, we sat down as a team and analysed it to pick out themes, barriers to support, and what is and isn’t working well. All of this is contained in the report. After it was published, we presented our findings to councillors, officials and an MSP at an event in the City Chambers in Glasgow.
Emotional and personal impact
Being involved in this project was a deeply meaningful experience for GHIFT. We had different roles including designing the questions, conducting the research and analysing the responses.
As people with personal experience of being homeless, we felt a strong sense of responsibility – it was gratifying to know our efforts could potentially make a small difference and raise awareness in our city, a place we are proud of, with a rich history and culture.
Glasgow has a global reputation as a leading city in tackling homelessness. However, GHIFT are not oblivious to the challenges the city faces.
At the City Chambers we had an in-depth discussion and to hear the honest truth about those challenges from the people we invited made us feel like we were not wasting our time with this piece of work.
We were all one team in one room, all connecting and trying to come up with a solution. This engagement made members of GHIFT feel respected.

Conclusion
There is no denying that over the past few years there has been a lot of change in the world, from the cost-of-living crisis to wars, and not to mention the lingering effects of the pandemic – an event that forced people to use hotels as emergency shelter and which mentally was a very challenging situation for people trying to get back on their feet.
However, the difficult times we are all experiencing won’t stop us from trying our best and persevering through choppy waters. Despite all the hardship, we saw and heard incredible examples of resilience and people’s determination to overcome their circumstances.
It became clear that addressing homelessness is a complex challenge influenced by many factors. This project reinforced our belief in the importance of compassion and the need for continued efforts to support those experiencing homelessness. It also made us more determined to advocate for those better solutions mentioned above, such as a rapid rehousing that works, and can provide a more dignified and sustainable path forward for people.