Category: Blogs

How much change can happen in almost eighteen years?  I’ve been thinking about that a lot during my final few days working at Homeless Network Scotland. 2004, when I first joined the organisation, seems like a long time ago. Which of course it is. Clearing out my desk got me thinking about what has changed and, equally interestingly, what hasn’t. 

A couple of obvious things come to mind. 

In 2004 the Homelessness Task Force had not long completed its work, making a series of recommendations, many of them focused on changing the legal framework for homelessness. And for a while it felt like the sector was collectively working towards the shared priority of removing the priority need test from homelessness legislation. Wherever you were and whoever you were speaking with, the ‘2012 target’ was central to almost every conversation. Looking back, it was probably the greatest level of momentum and collective ownership I’ve experienced. And we’ll certainly need that again if Scotland is not only to create new legal duties to prevent homelessness, but to truly make them a reality for everyone who may need the extra protections.

It’s also interesting to look back on the evolution of Housing First in Scotland. From those early conversations in 2009 when very few people had heard of the model, to the position we find ourselves in 2022 where three-quarters of local authorities are delivering Housing First and over 1,000 people are benefitting from the housing and support they need. It’s a nice reminder that change does happen. But also a reminder that change can be slow and takes a considerable effort from so many people just to inch forward. And when thinking about how much is still ahead of us before Housing First truly becomes the default offer for those who need it, that sense of momentum and collective ownership will be needed here too.

It’s been a pleasure to be part of a small team working hard to change the way we think about and respond to homelessness in Scotland. I know my colleagues at Homeless Network Scotland will continue to do this alongside the rest of the sector and I look forward to seeing what they achieve next.

If I leave with any reflection, it would simply be this: always remember why you do what you do, celebrate progress along the way, and don’t lose patience as you’ll need it for the long haul.

Ginny Cooper & David Ramsay from Homeless Network Scotland reflect on their experiences working with people to lead Change.

Ginny: My colleague David and I are programme leads at Homeless Network Scotland focusing on systems and culture change and prevention, respectively. A big part of the transformational change we are working towards is to provide our network with clear and accessible information about what needs to change to help end homelessness in Scotland. So, we are having a go at co-writing a blog!

All In for Change was set up to help Scotland’s policy and legislation around housing and homelessness to be implemented in practice and is facilitated by Homeless Network Scotland in partnership with Cyrenians and Scottish Community Development Centre. The programme does this by connecting people and communicating clear messages and a common goal. It is led by a team of people with lived and frontline experience of homelessness and relies on their knowledge, and the knowledge of their networks, to find out what progress people are seeing in improving the way we support those currently experiencing homelessness.

Since joining the organisation in 2019 I have been encouraged by the commitment of the homelessness sector in Scotland to involve the voice of people with lived experience in driving change. Through co-production and co-design the traditional power imbalances we find in the current system can be challenged but there is still much more we can do.

David and I were excited to be asked to talk about our approach to Co-production at a Scottish Co-production Network’s learning event on Wednesday 24 November where we heard Jim McCormick from the Robertson Trust talk about the need for us to work towards making co-production a right and not just an invitation. I increasingly believe that it is not enough to ask people to only contribute their lived experience but also essential that we find the best way to apply people’s experience of the system to help them lead change.

Lockdown has also been a challenge with the programme only being launched a few months before we found ourselves connecting via Zoom. We have seen members drop out due to increased pressures at work, supported people who were less confident using digital platforms to ensure their voices were still being heard, and are continuously learning and adapting the way we do things.

David: Whenever I am invited to deliver a presentation on co-production it gets me reflecting on previous work I’ve been involved in, and this was no different.

Having been involved in the work of Homeless Network Scotland for ten years now, the first three as a volunteer, I’ve seen my fair share of attempts of co-production (some good, and some not as successful). I admit, I have been involved in some of the examples which have not gone so well but have gladly learned from these (well I hope so😊).

Looking back at one of the best examples I have been involved in was a project called Navigate. Navigate had peer volunteers advocating for people who needed support with housing and welfare benefit claims. This was the first peer led project I had been involved in where people who had experience of homelessness and benefit issues were supporting others. People had come along to volunteer and give up their own valuable time to help others. It was really close to my heart, as I came through a very similar route, so I was keen to get involved and make it a success.

When I think back, one of the first things we all had to agree on was a common aim for the project and an understanding of what co-production meant and that’s easier said than done. We introduced co-production at the very first introduction meeting, encouraging people to start thinking about what approach they wanted to use, and to agree on what was best for the group.

Most people had been involved in other projects before and were not used to this language (to be fair neither was I). So, it was important to start from a place where people were comfortable and take the time to explain why a co-produced approach was different, and what the benefits were. Delivering co-produced projects can take more time than traditional methods but the payback is worth it.

This was a great project and massive learning for me, and everyone involved. We would use this learning to shape projects over the next 5 years and are still referencing it now.

The co-production model is something that just feels right, and I believe we should advocate to use it more.

by Martin Gavin

Have you ever watched someone struggle to push a car that’s broken down, edging forward an inch at a time trying to get the vehicle to the side of the road? Then someone else begins to push, followed by another couple of helpful passers-by and quickly the vehicle is rolling forward.

Everyone Home collective came together in May 2020 in response to the pandemic with a few people who knew one another. Membership is now 37 organisations and individuals, all pushing in the same direction. At the time it provided momentum and mutual support in response to a crisis and was a space for senior leaders in the homelessness sector and leading academics in the field to focus on the issues amid the intense noise of the initial reaction to Covid.

More than 18 months later, the Everyone Home collective has set out priorities for tackling the biggest issues in homelessness coming up, with a ‘Platform for Change 2022’. It builds on successful measures to address homelessness during the pandemic and consolidates the ‘Ask About Housing’ message developed last year, aimed at anyone who comes into regular contact with individuals and families, from GPs and teachers to neighbours or friends.

For me, being involved in the Everyone Home collective has been inspiring and sometimes surprising. Witnessing the impact and sustainable change that has come about through genuine collaboration is refreshing – it’s a lively, friendly and challenging environment where some of the biggest and smallest teams work collectively, along with individual members, with scale and specialism valued equally.

Over the summer in 2020, as we all tried to make sense of how the first global pandemic in a century would affect our own objectives and goals, it was clear that no one organisation could ensure homelessness remained high on the agenda of local and national government with competing and urgent priorities vying for resources and attention.

The collective’s first move was to identify three urgent priorities. These are: more homes for good health; no return to rough sleeping; no evictions into homelessness. The collective now meets less frequently but still regularly – providing a platform to Scottish Government, local authorities and housing associations to implement shared priorities to end homelessness.

These measures remain central to ending homelessness for good and still underpin the platform for change in 2022 – setting out what works and what matters along with the change that’s needed over the coming 12 months and the specific role that the Everyone Home collective will contribute. Among the measures are: 

‘Ask About Housing’ professional and public perceptions programme to support implementation of new duties to prevent homelessness

commissioning expert support to scope the potential of high-value social investment to increase housing supply in targeted areas

a route-map on a role for the private rented sector to increase housing capacity and options to prevent and respond to homelessness

securing a strategic funding partnership to mobilise Fair Way Scotland and bring about an end to destitution among people with no recourse to public funds. 

We have all benefitted as individuals and organisations from being part of Everyone Home and I’ve learned a lot about what real collaboration looks like. Out of adversity, we’ve seen huge strides forward in dealing with the systemic issues that lead to homelessness. For me, the collective captures the soul of this sector perfectly.

Peter Anderson is Training Lead at Homeless Network Scotland, and a well know figure in the sector for his work on addiction, Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE) and for delivering top quality training throughout Scotland. Peter retires in December after more than 30 years working in homelessness and related fields. We wish Peter lots of happiness in his retirement and a huge thanks for his work with Homeless Network Scotland.

Below are Peter’s thoughts on how we can all ensure our work is making a difference.

Working for Homeless Network Scotland I was often asked, “We all know the work you do, but what defines you?” As this is an agile, responsive organisation, our work wide reaching and influencing to help end homelessness in Scotland, it can be a challenge to pin that down. Travelling to work on the bus I was reflecting on our role as an assay of knowledge, research and solutions to homelessness when, from the small circle I had cleared in the steamed-up bus window, I saw a poster for a new exhibition in the National Museum of Scotland.

The Galloway Hoard comprises around 100 gold and silver objects from the Viking Age discovered in 2014. Found by a metal detectorist it has been described as, ‘one of the most significant Viking hoards ever found in Scotland’. When excavated it was found to be a varied collection of jewellery from the Viking world, Anglo-Saxon England and elsewhere in Europe dating to the mid-9th or -10th-Century.

The hoard consists of a variety of gold and silver objects including armbands, a Christian cross, brooches, ingots and what is possibly the largest silver Carolingian pot ever discovered. Of course a visit was planned. Among the wonderful exhibits the guides stopped alongside was a large gold decorated pendant, within this frame nested a strange, perfectly shaped piece of black schist. The guides explained schist is common and would not be accorded the status of a gemstone save for its function as a “Touchstone”.

The guide explained the meaning, which was confirmed when a clasp on the pendant released the schist and subsequent analysis of the stone showed traces of gold and other precious metals, a touchstone therefore was used to assay precious metal – gold being malleable leaves a streak on the schist and the greater the streak the purer the gold.

Later online I gazed at the touchstone, not just at its beauty but the ingenuity of our ancestors. What is the equivalent of Touchstones in what we do, whether policy driven or front-line? How do we assay whether our work is 24 Carat or base metal? Too often we see reports on what people have done, how they do it and why, but often no mention of the impact; what has changed as a result?

Applying virtual touchstones to our work at Homeless Network Scotland has helped identify what works and what matters, while measuring the quality of the outcomes for people. We produce regular Impact reports capturing activity and outcomes and everyone can introduce Touchstones into their work triggered by changes in performance, complaints, a ceiling on evictions for example leading to quick assessments and effective action.

Touchstones at higher levels, front line, long term, and short-term can assay and illuminate our work and help us keep on a true north. Lessons from a visit back in time 1000 years, and an exhibition we should all see to help put recent events into perspective.