Shelter Scotland is planning a 12-month series of events and promotional activities from now until next March to mark its 50th anniversary under the banner ‘We’re still Fighting’– saying the landmark is no cause for celebration.

The charity said that despite great leaps forward in homelessness legislation and better-quality housing in Scotland since 1968, many of the factors that motivated Shelter Scotland’s founders to take action still exist today and still need to be tackled head-on.

Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: “From our early days when we woke the nation and its politicians up to the shocking levels of poverty and deprivation people were enduring – all too vividly depicted through their appalling housing conditions – we hoped that a sense of national shame and the willingness to bring about lasting change would mean a quick end to bad housing and homelessness. We hoped that by now, there would be a decent home for everyone in Scotland.

“While good progress has been made, unfortunately, bad housing and homelessness still blights the lives of many thousands of people in Scotland – robbing them of their health, security and a fair chance in life. That’s why we are not celebrating our 50th – we shouldn’t really exist and there’s still so much more needs doing.

“From people sleeping rough and dying on our streets to the 6,581 children without a home and from the 28,247 homelessness applications last year to the 46 percent of calls to our free national helpline coming from the private rented sector, bad housing and homelessness in Scotland is still far from fixed.

“In our 50th year – through a series of events and activities - we aim to re-engage people across Scotland with our core messages and motivate them to join our fight and help us to campaign until there’s a home for everyone.”

More information has been published at scotland.shelter.org.uk/50.