Tag: conference

Celebrate the Heart of Support: nominate an outstanding frontline worker

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All over Scotland, people working in frontline homelessness services go all out to make the difference for people they support. We often hear about them, and you will have too. 

An Associate of HNS described their experience of a trusted worker as having “that one person who sticks around and sticks up for you.” 

At Scotland’s annual homelessness conference, the Heart of Support Awards will honour and highlight great work being done by people who support people during the housing emergency. 

Why nominate?

Across the 2-day event in Perth on 27-28 October 2025, we will platform a diverse range of colleagues who go above and beyond every day for people they support – to represent and celebrate this key workforce in roles including caseworkers, advisors, support workers, housing officers, social workers, coaches, counsellors and more. 

The 6 nominees who are selected will receive an award engraved with their name, a £200 cash payment and VIP entry to the conference including meals and accommodation. 

And they will have the chance to tell delegates about their work – the successes, the challenges, why they do what they do. This will be captured in a short video showreel, coproduced with the winners to be presented at the conference.  

How we will select 

This year’s conference is titled It’s Personal: the human face of the housing emergency. Across 2 days the event themes are Safe, Well, Respected and In Control, exploring the real-world impact of the emergency on people and the solutions for a better future. 

The conference themes will guide the panel to select nominees that represent all parts of the country, across all sectors and in different types of frontline roles. We are keen to hear about those who champion new or impactful approaches that get alongside people to ensure they are: 


🧡 Safe: prioritising people’s immediate safety  

🧡 Well: supporting people’s health and wellbeing 

🧡 Respected: advocating for rights and redressing inequality  

🧡 In Control: helping to increase people’s agency and financial inclusion 
 

Here’s how to nominate 

Tell us in around 150 words how your nominee’s way of working makes the difference. It could be about their persistence, methods, the relationships they build, challenging how things are done, innovating – please know, it doesn’t have to be perfect. 

Please do make sure your colleague agrees to being nominated, can meet with us ahead to create a video – and is available to be celebrated at the conference in Perth. 

Deadline for nominations! For your important entry to be considered, please be sure to send it to us by Friday 19 Sept 2025. Just click the button for the short nomination form.

Nomination form

Homelessness conference 2025: Early bird booking & speaker news

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Scotland’s housing emergency is more than stats and headlines. It’s a human issue that affects individuals, families and communities every day. This year’s homelessness conference is focused on the impact of the housing emergency on people. As the conference title says: It’s personal.

So it’s fitting that we can announce a great keynote speaker with a big personality. Someone who will inspire us all when we meet to explore how to build a better future where everyone is safe, well, respected, and in control.

Baroness Floella Benjamin: ‘Childhood Lasts a Lifetime’

A pioneering star of stage and screen, beloved former host of Play School, award-winning writer, campaigner and prominent member of the Windrush generation, Baroness Floella Benjamin has overcome adversity and prejudice since she arrived in Britain aged 10 to achieve stellar success in her career and as a champion for diversity and childhood wellbeing.

Baroness Benjamin’s keynote address, Childhood Lasts a Lifetime, is a powerful and anecdote-filled narrative of resilience to inspire us all to work for positive change.

The theme will resonate deeply with delegates, with childhood poverty still the strongest predictor of later homelessness, and 10,000+ children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland.

Early birds! Book now and save 20%

Book your spot before the end of July and save 20%. You’ll find all attendance and accommodation options here. Click below for easy booking.

Book now

We’ll be bringing you more updates on details of the conference programme and speakers in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned and share this HNS mailout subscription link with your networks.

Sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities

Get your message across to an engaged and expert audience from across multiple sectors. This year we have 9 great sponsorship and exhibitor packages to suit all budgets and preferences. Check out options below, get in touch at hello@homelessnetwork.scot or call for a chat on 0141 420 7272.

Click here for Sponsorship and Exhibitor options

Over two unmissable days, Scotland’s Annual Homelessness Conference 2025, titled It’s Personal: the human face of the housing emergency’, will unite experts, advocates and those with lived experience to address the real-world impacts of the housing emergency.

Dive into four powerful themes – Safe, Well, Respected, In Control – and discover cutting edge strategies, share solutions and must-hear stories:

  • Safe: Champion the approaches needed to protect people and make homes the ultimate community safety solution.
  • Well: Build the case for health and social care to integrate with housing to transform housing options and lives beyond homelessness services.
  • Respected: Uphold people’s rights and redress the inequality they face, with a bold push to shape policy before the 2026 Scottish elections.
  • In-Control: Unlock solutions to financial inclusion, choice and the active participation of people navigating homelessness.

Expect inspiring stories, evidence-based practices and practical solutions that put people first. By focusing on the human impact, this year’s conference can help build a better future where everyone is safe, well, respected and in control.

Choice and options in homeless response

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Scotland’s annual conference looking in detail at the causes of and solutions to homelessness takes place next week from 5 – 7 October. The theme of choice runs through this year’s varied programme covering topics from the housing we want to live in, to the area we want to settle and the support we want to tap into as Covid continues to have an impact on housing and support services. 

Guest speakers at this year’s event include Shona Robison MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing & Local Government; Professor Ruth Chang from The University of Oxford; Dr Martin Kettle, Glasgow Caledonian University; Pat Togher, Glasgow City Health & Social Care Partnership and Dr Beth Watts, I-SPHERE at Heriot Watt University. The online format using the Remo platform allows Dr Andrew Clarke and Professor Cameron Parsell from The University of Queensland, Australia, to join the event, co-authors of the recently published book ‘Charity and Poverty in Advanced Welfare States.’ 

The conference addresses three questions that will really matter in 2022. 

  • How can we ensure that real-world options match the policy ambition? 
  • How do people exercise choice and control when options are sometimes limited?  
  • How do we enable informed choices, not enable others to make choices for us? 

Professor Ruth Chang’s research on choice and decision-making has been profiled by media outlets internationally. Ruth has also given lectures or been a consultant to industry and academia on this theme. Professor Chang said: 

“Making good choices is not a matter of being expert at discovering the pros and cons of the options before you. If you had a crystal ball and could know the possible futures corresponding to your options, you would still not have the critical tool for making good decisions. What is required instead is the ability to commit, to put yourself behind something. That’s how we can move forward in hard choices and make ourselves who we are.” 

On Tuesday 5 October, journalist Kirsteen Paterson, a 2021 Scottish Press Awards nominee for coverage of immigration issues, interviews Sabir Zazai, Chief Executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, as he reflects on current events, his own journey from Afghanistan and what a fairer way forward in Scotland would look like. This session is presented in association with The National newspaper. 

On day two the choice is yours, with three interactive breakout rooms exploring choice in support led by Dr David McCartney, Clinical Lead, LEAP, NHS Lothian; Robin Johnson, Founder and Editor of PIElink; Rankin Barr & Frank Reilly from Simon Community Scotland. Also on day two, Pat Togher, Assistant Chief Officer Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, looks at how cities are planning their recovery from a unique set of homelessness challenges experienced during the pandemic. 

Wrapping up the conference on day three is, Freedom of Choice? Choice Informed By Trauma Awareness, a panel session that offers insights and stories about how personal choice is viewed by those in authority within the criminal justice system and demonstrates how an understanding of the impact of trauma for those dealing with the reality of addiction and homelessness can change minds and outcomes. Hosted by Ishbel Smith of Heart In Mouth, conversationalists will include Iain Smith (Scottish Lawyer of the Year 2020) and James Docherty and Kirsty Giles of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit. 

Maggie Brünjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland, said:  

“Choice is the core principle that will lead us through current dilemmas and debates about what options are ‘right’ for whom, and in which circumstances. But informed choice is key – people with a housing concern or crisis need access to the right information, and for some a bit of advice and advocacy too.  

“We work closely with partners to prepare this annual event and work hard to make sure it reflects the moment. We look forward to welcoming you, to learn from the previous 12 months and shape the year ahead.” 

Two key pieces of research will be launched at the conference. On Tuesday 5 October the much-anticipated report, Shared Spaces, looks at the future role of supported and shared housing as a response to homelessness in Scotland. This is presented by the report author, Anna Evans, Director at Indigo House along with chair of the research advisory group, Dr Beth Watts, Senior Research Fellow, I-SPHERE at Heriot-Watt University.  

The following day, Wednesday 6 October, the launch of the Homelessness Monitor is hosted by Crisis. The Homelessness Monitor provides an independent analysis of the homelessness impacts of recent economic and policy developments. A panel discussion will be chaired by the Chief Executive of Crisis, Jon Sparkes, including a presentation of findings by Heriot Watt University followed by a Q&A with Maggie Brünjes CEO of Homeless Network Scotland, Catriona MacKean of the Scottish Government and John Mills of ALACHO. 

Delegates will benefit from specialist conference platform, Remo – which takes online events to a new level. Remo enables greater interaction, with table-to-table networking and the freedom to roam and join spontaneous conversations in the ‘room’. 

Booking for the conference can be made online here, more information and the full programme is available at this link. There’s also still time to be associated with Scotland’s annual homelessness conference highlighting your organisation as an exhibitor or sponsor. More information here on the Homeless Network Scotland website. 

No ‘let-up’ in Covid response

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“The winter months ahead could have a devastating impact on people who don’t have a home, we must get this right.”
Maggie Brunjes – Chief executive, Homeless Network Scotland

Charity and academic sector leaders will use this year’s Scottish homelessness conference from Tuesday 20 to Thursday 22 October to urge people and organisations in Scotland that are concerned about homelessness to keep up the pace as winter approaches.

A rapid response from the sector and government in March focused on getting people inside. The online event titled Safe As Houses will explore what is needed to build on that success and continue progress made before the pandemic so that homelessness services – and the people directly affected – are not left carrying the can for a global health pandemic.

Homeless Network Scotland organises the annual event, which this year offers delegates a choice of seminars and interactive online sessions, with more than 300 booked to attend. Event partners for the 2020 conference are Bethany Christian Trust and The Salvation Army.

The Scottish Government’s updated Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan published earlier this month, is the backdrop to one of the cornerstone sessions at the conference on Wednesday, an interactive Q&A with Kevin Stewart MSP, Scotland’s Minister for Local Government, Housing & Planning.   

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

“Few of us will emerge from this pandemic unaffected by it, but not everyone is in the same boat. The pandemic has laid bare the inequality and unfairness at the root of homelessness. How can you stay at home if you don’t have one, and how can you remain safe at home if that home isn’t safe?”

“This is the first opportunity since the start of restrictions for all those concerned about homelessness in Scotland to connect on this scale. We want to highlight the extraordinary efforts of individuals and organisations during the first stage of the pandemic, from those experiencing homelessness who faced added uncertainty on top of an already stressful situation, to colleagues on the frontline walking alongside people during the crisis. Plus the many, many people behind the scenes shifting focus and financial support to where it was needed.

“Now, almost eight months in, there must be no let-up in the pace needed to get everyone home. There is no good time to be homeless, but the winter months ahead could have a devastating impact on people who don’t have a home – we must get this right.”

The  Safe as Houses conference is built around five themes.

  1. A global pandemic: drawing out international learning and comparisons on responses to homelessness.
  2. Whatever the problem, the answer is relationships: exploring the role of relationships as the lynchpin for professional and personal wellbeing.
  3. A day in the sun for good law and policy: building from recent successes to ensure it is upheld on the ground every time and for every person.
  4. Same storm, different boat: redressing the unfairness at the root of homelessness and the impact of the pandemic and its aftermath.
  5. If we don’t all row, the boat won’t go getting alongside each other – in all our different roles – to make a collective impact on homelessness.

Lydia Stazen, Director of the Institute of Global Homelessness in Chicago, is taking part in one of the first sessions on Tuesday morning titled ‘What Just Happened?’, which also includes panel members from India and Holland for a global perspective.

Lydia Stazen said: “The past six months have accelerated global efforts to end homelessness and taught us so much about what works – and what doesn’t. Safe as Houses provides a platform to adapt and tailor those lessons for Scotland.”

Sir Andrew Cubie, Chair of Scotland’s Housing First Advisory Group, will chair a political discussion on Wednesday afternoon titled, ‘Taking the ‘P’ Out of Homelessness’. Ahead of the Scottish Parliament Elections in May this seminar will debate how to take the politics out of homelessness in Scotland, with all five political parties at Holyrood invited.

Sir Andrew Cubiesaid: “In this most difficult year, and as we approach a winter of acute concern, I welcome the opportunity of gathering folk together again who are dedicated to bringing homelessness, as we know it, to an end.”

Pat McArdle, CEO of Mayday Trust, joins the conference for a session as part of theme two, ‘Whatever the problem, the answer is relationships’. This theme will explore the role of social connectedness as the lynchpin for personal and professional wellbeing, and why ‘kindness’ is returning to the language of support, with a stronger focus on fixing the big problems like access to money and housing.

Pat McArdle said: “I am genuinely delighted to be part of this conference with all the key stakeholders in the room bravely discussing the real-world issues raised by people themselves who are going through the toughest of times.”

Booking is essential, reserve a place at Scotland’s annual homelessness conference and set up a profile ahead of the event to join on Tuesday 20 October 2020 from 10am.