Category: News

8 calls from the frontline of the housing emergency

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What does the national housing emergency look like on the ground? How is it affecting people at risk of homelessness and the staff trying to support them? What’s getting in the way of improving things and what’s going well despite the pressures?

Earlier this year the All in for Change team’s Taking the Temperature National Roadshow toured the country to find some answers to those questions.

The Change Team spoke to 146 people on their travels to Aberdeen, Clydebank, Falkirk, Greenock and Kirkcaldy, including frontline workers and people who have experienced homelessness as well as local authority staff, managers and councillors.

They wanted to hear directly what’s going on across the 5 Housing Options hubs, and gauge progress towards achieving All in for Change’s 4 New Directions – the priorities the Team has identified that will make services work better for people.

This report sets out what the Team heard and fed back to colleagues on the Scottish Government and COSLA Homelessness Prevention Strategy Group last week.

Their evidence is captured in 8 calls from the frontline of the housing emergency – what needs to happen now on prevention, housing supply, culture change, caseload levels, creating more joined-up services, harnessing community assets, and more.

All in for Change is made up of people who know what homelessness looks and feels like through experience. Homeless Network Scotland and Cyrenians facilitate All in for Change, which is funded by the Scottish Government and Frontline Network.

By learning from the wider knowledge and experiences of people and services, the Change Team can use its platform to influence change. And by supporting their findings, you can be a part of that ambition too.

Read the report

Sponsor or exhibit at Scotland’s annual homelessness conference

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Spread your message by sponsoring or exhibiting at this year’s 2-day homelessness conference, the sector’s largest annual gathering. Reach thousands of homelessness, housing and health and social care professionals in the build-up, and more than 200 delegates expected each day.

This year the conference theme is Right here, right now – focusing on what should be prioritised here and now across 4 urgent themes – housing supply, prevention, rights and duties and supporting people.

This year we’re offering a range of new opportunities for you to play a key part in the event and to showcase your organisation, its services, solutions, latest learning or messages.

New additions including options for you to host a fringe event where you can highlight a piece of work, provoke discussion, create a networking space – or do something completely different!

Other new opportunities include sponsorship of a networking lunch or dinner to treat the delegates, plus options to advertise in the programme, brand breakout rooms and exhibit in Perth Concert Hall’s bustling foyer.

Check out our brochure detailing all the options and pricing, with a form to book your preferred exhibition and sponsor options. Or if you prefer, get in touch by emailing hello@homelessnetwork.scot

Download the brochure

Health body launches tools to boost equalities data

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Public Health Scotland has launched a suite of information resources to improve collection of equalities data, including reports, leaflets and a new learning hub.

The launch comes after a collaboration between PHS, University of Strathclyde and Homeless Network Scotland, that investigated the key barriers to gathering equalities data, which historically has been poorly recorded. 

Equalities data relates to patient information on protected characteristics under The Equality Act 2010, including age, disability, race or ethnicity, religion, sex, and sexual orientation.

Improving data quality will allow NHS services in Scotland to monitor and understand which groups of people experiencing disadvantages when it comes to health – who is or isn’t using services – and design services to meet patient needs.

An online survey of NHS Scotland staff with a duty to ask for equality data from patients as part of their usual healthcare role was also carried out.

Public Health Scotland said the engagement process found that barriers to patients providing information included information-sharing environments not feeling safe, secure or accessible, and experiences were not always free from racism or discrimination.

Healthcare staff highlighted they did not feel confident asking for equalities data and felt they did not have best practice guidance on how to do this.

➡ Read more and find links to the resources here.

Everyone Home collective statement on far-right violence

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Reflecting on the Islamophobic, racist and fascist violence we have seen in parts of the UK in recent weeks, the Everyone Home collective has one simple message for our friends, colleagues, partners and allies who are part of, or work with, minoritised communities:

We stand with you in solidarity and resistance.

As a collective we are committed to doing our bit to create a fair and equal society where everyone can live peacefully and be treated with dignity and respect. Having access to a decent home is a crucial part of that aspiration, one that extends to everyone in Scotland, whether they were born here or arrived seeking to build a new life.

Among our collective and across our broader networks and families are people from minoritised communities and from refugee and migrant communities and the services that support them. We especially acknowledge their heightened concern, and we say:

We will always be your allies. 

There is no place in our society for anyone who spreads or acts on prejudice to create fear or harm, whether on the streets or online. Ignorance and hatred cannot defeat solidarity, compassion and aspiration – the values which will always underpin everything we do as a collective.

August Network Briefing

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This month’s Network Briefing shares details of booking and sponsorship opportunities for Scotland’s annual homelessness conference in October, themed ‘Right here, right now’, spanning 2 days for the first time and delivered this year in partnership with Salvation Army.  

Early bird tickets are open until the end of the month, offering a 20% discount – there’s a range of packages available, including residential options for maximum convenience. Got something to promote? Check out this year’s expanded sponsorship options.

We also announce a brilliant celebrity addition to the speaker line-up… who could it be ❓

And we bring news of the Supported Housing Task and Finish Group, which published its final report and recommendations with a launch at Queens Cross Housing Association’s impressive Wellbeing for Young People service, attended by Housing Minister Paul McLennan.

Elsewhere in the briefing you’ll find news of a great new appointment to HNS, themes for the next All in for Glasgow design session, and a great success story from Salvation Army’s Eva Burrows Centre in Cambuslang.

As ever there’s a wide range of news, research and coverage across a range of sectors. And we’re pleased to bring you details of upcoming training opportunities in our Learning Lounge. Enjoy.

Read August’s briefing