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.”
Seven projects across Scotland are to receive funding from a £1million homelessness prevention fund created by the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Homeless Network Scotland are jointly administering the Upstream Homeless Prevention Fund.
The successful projects form a learning programme running from June 2025-April 2026, with an overarching aim to prevent homelessness by funding tenancy sustainment and early intervention activities.
Funded activities help tenants remain in their homes, and the pilots will add to learning about the role of Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in delivering new ‘Ask and Act’ homelessness prevention duties in the Housing Bill.
The projects support new and existing partnerships between RSLs and the third sector to provide community-based activities dedicated to tenancy sustainment. Each local partnership includes a cash fund to enable individual cash payments of up to £1,300 to practically help people avoid or exit homelessness.
The successful homelessness prevention projects are:
Orkney Housing Association Housing First Orkney (Orkney Isles)
West of Scotland Housing Association Ready, Steady, Roots (Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire)
Fife Housing Group Fife Housing Alliance Tenancy Support Project (Fife)
Sanctuary Housing and Community Connector (Dundee)
West Granton Housing Association Get Settled Archie project (Edinburgh)
Berwickshire Housing Association Domestic Abuse Tenancy Support Project (East Scottish Borders)
The fund will promote learning ahead of implementation of the Ask and Act duties, which will require a wider range of ‘relevant bodies’ to be involved in preventing homelessness.
It is supporting RSLs, the third and community sector to understand respective roles and connections to other relevant bodies and test local route maps to the new prevention duties. In doing so, the fund is supporting understanding of the role of housing associations to:
• Ask about housing circumstances through existing functions.
• Act on the information received to prevent homelessness or mitigate risk by using existing powers.
• Refer to local authority for homelessness assistance, if necessary, rather than by default.
The Fund will be accompanied by a programme of peer learning sessions and a final evaluation in 2026 that SFHA/HNS will make available to the wider memberships.
On 20 June 2025, Maggie Brünjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Heriot-Watt University at a ceremony on its Edinburgh campus. The doctorate recognises her leadership in advancing evidence-based, collaborative solutions to homelessness in Scotland.
For over 25 years, Maggie has championed transformative approaches to homelessness. Since 2010, as Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland, she has led the national network uniting organisations to deliver innovative solutions and advocate for a Scotland where everyone has a home. During that time she has co-founded impactful initiatives such as Housing First Scotland (2016), the UK-wide Centre for Homelessness Impact (2018), the Everyone Home Collective (2020) and Fair Way Scotland (2022). As a member of the Minister-appointed Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group, Maggie helped shape Scotland’s national plan to end homelessness and continues to influence policy through national frameworks.
(left to right): Professor Beth Watts-Cobbe, Heriot-Watt University; Janice Higgins, Head of Corporate Services, Homeless Network Scotland; Dr Maggie Brünjes, Chief Executive, Homeless Network Scotland; Jackie Erdman, Chair of Homeless Network Scotland; Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Heriot-Watt University.
Accepting the award, Maggie said: “I am deeply honoured by this recognition from Heriot-Watt University, whose Institute for Social Policy, Housing and Equalities Research leads global efforts to address housing disadvantage and social inequality, with their relentless pursuit of knowledge directing transformative change in Scotland, the UK and beyond.
“This award reflects the dedication of the Homeless Network Scotland team and our wider partners and associates. While we’ve made significant strides in addressing homelessness, the housing emergency has halted progress. This moment only fuels our resolve to pursue urgent solutions to Scotland’s housing and homelessness challenge.”
Professor Richard A. Williams, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University, said: “Maggie Brünjes has brought about lasting, system-wide change in the fight against homelessness, inspiring policy and partnerships across Scotland and beyond and whose work exemplifies the values of purpose, compassion and global impact that Heriot-Watt holds dear.”
The laureation was delivered by Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Director of the Institute for Social Policy, Housing and Equalities Research at Heriot-Watt University. This, along with Maggie’s response, can be viewed at this video link from around 30:40m.
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 winterreport. 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.
Glasgow City Council has committed to the principle that there should be no ‘shared air’ communal night shelters in the city after hearing hard-hitting testimony of the damaging impact they had on people who were homeless last winter.
The pledge by councillors and officials came at a summit held by Glasgow Homelessness Involvement and Feedback Team (GHIFT) to share findings from their recent investigation into people’s experiences of using shared air night shelters in Glasgow.
GHIFT, a team with first-hand experience of homelessness who work to improve services in Glasgow, invited councillors, officials and MSPs to hear their evidence and inform decisions that will help keep people safe this winter and in the longer term.
The event heard real stories of people who felt unsafe, disrespected and traumatised during the worst crisis of their lives – with some people opting to sleep rough, sofa surf or take other risks rather than use a communal night shelter.
GHIFT also shared examples of good practice and what people want to see from better overnight provision, with safety, privacy and direct links to services among the priorities.
Why did GHIFT do this work?
The team carried out the survey earlier this year to assess the impact on people of changes to overnight winter services in Glasgow for people experiencing homelessness.
Being roofless in winter and during other extreme weather events is particularly brutal due to the intensified physical and psychological toll on people.
Freezing temperatures, snow and ice increase the risk of severe harm. And throughout the year, exposure to high winds, heavy rain or heatwaves also makes people’s situation more precarious. Glasgow has the highest level of rough sleeping in Scotland, followed by Edinburgh, Fife and Highland.
In previous years, a welcome centre provided in partnership between the council and local charities ensured access to individual rooms, meals, multi-agency support and rapid access to self-contained rooms and community accommodation.
But the housing emergency, rapidly rising homelessness, shortages of all forms of accommodation and overwhelming pressure on homelessness budgets and services hampered all efforts to provide a welcome centre last winter.
The team asked city decision makers at the event to resolve this situation as a matter of urgency for the winter ahead and to join them in committing to the principle that shared air shelters are inadequate, compromise dignity and reinforce stigma.
GHIFT members spoke at the event about their experiences of carrying out the survey, including specific concerns women raised about safety, and moving examples of the compassionate and equality-led support they found in other services.
Extreme weather provision during a housing emergency
An accompanying briefing on housing provision in extreme weather makes it clear that doing nothing to improve the situation this year is not an option, with the return of a triage-focused welcome centre the best option in the time available before this winter arrives. The briefing also shows that GHIFT’s findings align with an international evidence review on what works to end rough sleeping, including the effectiveness of shelters.
GHIFT welcomed a shared commitment at the event to work together to do better for people this winter, along with a pledge to preserve people’s existing housing rights, with acknowledgment of the present struggle the city has in meeting these duties.
Glasgow declared a housing emergency in November 2023 and around 30 people are now estimated to sleep rough in the city each night due to a lack of social and affordable housing.
The council is paying millions of pounds to house more than 1,800 people in 40 unsuitable hotels and B&Bs and failed to offer any temporary accommodation 6,320 times between April and September 2024.
Susanne Millar, chief executive, Glasgow City Council, said: “GHIFT were frank about the bad situations they uncovered in their work, and we were frank about the challenges we face and the resources we need to improve the response to homelessness in the city.
“We welcome that honest discussion. Glasgow has long been committed to eradicating use of old-style communal shelters. Over decades we have worked hard to close down unsafe places like the Bellgrove Hotel and create a modernised homelessness system.
“Everyone around the table wanted the same thing, to provide the best service possible to support people in crisis in Glasgow. The evidence GHIFT has gathered will help to inform how the city can move forward to get to that place as quickly as possible.”
GHIFT said: “One of our priorities is housing, not shelters, as a response to rough sleeping in Glasgow. With winter round the corner, we wanted to gather people’s experiences of using shared air shelters and open a conversation with councillors and officers to make sure that this winter, everyone could commit to a safe solution.
“Our investigation shows that people will choose options that feel safe to them, and that shared air shelters are not a safe place to stay. If no alternative can be provided, people are at risk of sleeping rough because what’s currently available just isn’t good enough.
“We want to feel proud of our city, and to know that Glasgow is providing places for people to sleep safe, not rough, would be a step in the right direction.
“We are really pleased with the conversations with the councillors and officials and we’re ready to collaborate with all partners to make sure the voices of people with personal experience of homelessness in Glasgow are kept at the forefront of decisions on winter planning.”
Homeless Network Scotland, who supported the event, said: “Rough s leeping is the last resort for people who have run out of places to turn to, or for people who are unable to stay where they are but don’t know where to go.
“An ideal housing system would rapidly rehouse and support people year-round, without the need for weather-specific measures. But Glasgow, like many other parts of Scotland, currently lacks the houses and funding it needs to make this a reality.
“GHIFT’s guests at the event heard the sobering truth that for some people, having no safe place to go at night in winter is literally a life-or-death situation.
“So we are clear, as are GHIFT: doing nothing is not an option. And the actions we take during the housing emergency are just as important to avoid straying further from the ideal we all aspire to. Without winter provision that prioritises safety, dignity and what works, we risk rising rough sleeping and deepening harm. “If anyone is in doubt about the danger that causes, we recommend reading GHIFT’s report and considering the wider range of evidence that is available to help decision making.”
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