The St Martin’s Frontline Network will provide a space for mutual support, sharing best practice, and engaging with public policy. In time, the Frontline Network will nurture an innovative and collective response to tackling homelessness in the city.

A free afternoon event was held to briefly introduce St Martin’s and included activities designed to help map the sector, sharing of ideas on issues workers are facing on the ground, introduction of new tools to support collaborative working, and discussion on what the Network could focus on in future.

More than 30 attendees gathered to explore topics as diverse as welfare reform and lone working, staff wellbeing and temporary accommodation – and the main feedback from the day was that it was great, and needs to be expanded to involve more frontline workers dealing with homelessness.

The event was open to anyone working on the frontline with homeless or vulnerably housed people – whether in the third sector, statutory services, or other contexts.

Ewan Aitken, Cyrenians chief executive, said: “We’re proud to be part of such an innovative new project. Professional networks can have impact as well as providing support, and those tackling homelessness in Edinburgh deserve a space for that to happen.”

Natalie King, network development manager at St Martin’s, added: “For our first network event in Scotland, we were delighted that Cyrenians were able to attract such a broad range of experience from so many organisations.”

The Network is planning more activity in the coming weeks and anyone interested in getting involved should contact maddykirkman@cyrenians.scot or visit here.