Homelessness

This outbreak has shown how crucial it is to tackle homelessness. As discussions and speculation continue around just how we will move out of lockdown, those experiencing homelessness in Scotland must be at the centre of this thinking.

People require homes, somewhere in which they feel secure and safe. It is not hard to grasp that not all accommodation is suitable to be called ‘home’.   It is not the absence of housing stock so much as the quality of that stock, its location, and environment that is so crucial whe

We tell it like it is as Glasgow Night Shelter; there isn’t enough accommodation for destitute asylum seekers and what there is, isn’t good enough. And we say that because for the past 10 years we have been providing not-really-good-enough accommodation (a mattress on a hall floor, a bun

Aberdeen Cyrenians is reminding people to continue to prioritise their mental wellbeing as the coronavirus lockdown continues.   The homelessness charity will be sharing virtual messages from its homelessness, poverty and violence services during Mental Health Awareness Week (18 – 24

If anything positive can be taken from the coronavirus pandemic it is that, almost overnight, accommodation was found for large numbers of Scotland’s street-homeless population. As soon as the lockdown was announced charities and local authorities mobilised, hotel rooms were acquired and rough

An extra 100 homes are to be provided by Wheatley Group to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in Scotland. The housing, care and property management group has pledged the additional properties to Housing First as part of a package of measures to help vulnerable people during the coronavirus cris

Private landlords and other property owners left with empty homes in Edinburgh due to coronavirus are being encouraged to help local people and families in critical housing need through a new scheme which aims to provide a better alternative to other forms of temporary homeless accommodation.

Aberdeen Cyrenians is launching its own app and Let’s Get Digital campaign to help support and connect people who are affected by homelessness and isolation through the COVID-19 outbreak.

Martin Gavin, Homeless Network Scotland’s head of external relations, looks at how to frame discussions about what happens next, so that the best ideas surface quickly. Since the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group (HARSAG) recommendations were submitted in 2018, centred around rapid

Dundee City Council and local partners have transformed their homeless services to tackle the challenges of the coronavirus crisis and maintain support to some of the most vulnerable people in the city, the local authority has said. City organisations involved in the effort to provide lifeline assis

In the past month, the Cyrenians FareShare depot in Leith has redistributed a record-breaking 164 tonnes of food in response to a huge increase in demand during the coronavirus pandemic. This week local MSP Ben Macpherson visited on his daily walk, to thank staff and volunteers for safely supporting

Any plans to stop prisoners from falling into homelessness after early release must be made public, according to Scottish Labour. 

A year after Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder was officially launched discussions are taking place between senior figures in housing, homelessness and government to significantly scale-up the programme and prevent anyone returning to the streets who has been accommodated in hotels and short

Today would have been the annual Housing First Scotland conference in Edinburgh, an event that last year attracted 350 delegates and speakers from across the world. The theme was going to be a celebration of the first full year of the Housing First Pathfinder, and today Homeless Network Scotland, wh

A plan to ensure that everyone experiencing homelessness has access to suitable quality accommodation has been brought forward in response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Scottish Government has confirmed. The Unsuitable Accommodation Order, which currently prohibits local councils from placing pre