Cymorth Cymru

Cymorth Cymru is the representative body for providers of homelessness, housing and support services in Wales. We act as the voice of the sector, influencing the development and implementation of policy, legislation and practice that affects our members and the people they support. We want to be part of a social movement that ends homelessness and creates a Wales where everyone can live safely and independently in their own homes and thrive in their communities. We are committed to working with people who use services, our members and partners to effect change. We believe that together, we can have a greater impact on people’s lives.

Cymorth established the Housing First Wales Network in 2018 and has played a key role in the development of Housing First policy in Wales, working alongside the Welsh Government and our members to increase understanding and delivery of the model. We have co-produced the Housing First principles for Wales (building on the internationally agreed principles) and we have developed and oversee delivery of the Housing First Wales Accreditation process, which aims to ensure fidelity to the principles. We have recently started to collect data on Housing First in Wales and continue to work closely with the Welsh Government and our members to develop Housing First policy and practice in Wales.

Homeless Network Scotland

At Homeless Network Scotland, we believe homelessness in Scotland can be ended if we act together on what works and what matters. We are a membership organisation with a unique role to help grow the policy and system changes needed to resolve homelessness. And as a network, we: • Connect people and places to drive change • Learn from evidence and each other’s experiences • Act on what works and what matters Our 5 priorities and programmes are to (i) prioritise prevention (ii) support the transition to rapid rehousing (iii) end rough sleeping and destitution (iv) increase and improve opportunities for lived experience (v) help systems and culture change. Established in 1980, we draw from four decades of experience and learning to ensure that responses to homelessness keep moving forward and not back. We work hard to create earlier, better, fairer and more informed systems that value home and community and people’s choice and control. We are committed to Housing First becoming the default option in Scotland for those whose homelessness is made harder by a range of other life challenges. To achieve this, our focus is on creating space for people to Connect, Learn and Act on Housing First across the country. We deliver a range of opportunities for people to come together and connect with each other, including the Housing First Scotland annual conference and regular Connect events. We work with partners to ensure we regularly review our progress towards our goal, including the publication of regular monitoring reports and the implementation of a Check-Up process that supports the quality of Housing First support services, fidelity to Housing First principles, and improvement methodology around local systems. And we promote Housing First know-how through regular updates to Scotland’s national Housing First framework, and a series of publications to promote learning across the country.

Simon Community Scotland

Simon Community Scotland is working to combat the causes and effects of homelessness. Our vision is that everyone should have a safe place to live and access to the support they need. By working and learning together we can drive impact and change, person to person – to transform everyone’s experience of homelessness in Scotland. When we talk about transformation – Housing First has been a game changer for many people, providing a home for people to resolve the issues that led to them becoming homeless in the first place. From 1st October we will be the sole provider of Housing First in Edinburgh, our ambition is for the Housing First principles to be applied across all provisions and be fully integrated across the city and across Scotland and we are determined to lead and work with others to make this happen.

Greater Manchester Housing First

The Greater Manchester Housing First pilot is one of three English pilots testing the model at scale with the intention of supporting 330 people into a home of their own and providing the wraparound support they need to sustain those tenancies. The three national pilots are being assessed by an independent consortium of researchers from the volunteer and academic sectors, to create a blueprint for future delivery of large-scale Housing First programmes in England. The Greater Manchester pilot is a high-fidelity pilot and adheres to the seven principles that underpin the Housing First model. It is a partnership of 11 organisations including support providers and Mental health professionals, with a network of housing partners and third-party services across Greater Manchester to ensure the person has the choice over where they live and control over the services they receive. Video explaining the partnership here

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is led by the Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram. It is made up of six local authorities (Halton, Sefton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral) and is home to 1.6 million residents. The Metro Mayor ensures that decisions made through our devolution deal with Government, directly benefit our people and our communities. By working collaboratively and listening to the communities we serve and our partners, we can achieve our vision of a fairer, stronger, cleaner city region where nobody is left behind. That includes those who are homeless. The Liverpool City Region is one of three pilot areas for Housing First in the country tackling the most entrenched and complex cases of homelessness. 90% of our service users are maintaining their own home and are working intensively with their support workers.

Turning Point Scotland

Turning Point Scotland (TPS) works with adults who are experiencing a range of support needs. This includes housing and homelessness, learning disability, autism, acquired brain injury, fluctuating mental health, physical disabilities, problematic alcohol and/or other drug use and involvement in the criminal justice system. Every day they work with well over 4,000 people and every year around 8,700. TPS helps their clients to address issues they are experiencing and recognise their own skills and interests. In 2010 TPS invested in the UK’s first Housing First pilot project. Since then they have grown their services across multiple local authorities, including Consortium partnerships with other agencies working across 7 Local Authority Areas. They have worked with over 600 people in 11 years; – 84% remain in their home – 8% have died – 1% were evicted – 3% moved to Supported Accommodation – 3% of tenancies were abandoned – Less than 1% of people are serving a long term prison sentence Turning Point Scotland believes strongly in delivering Housing First with high fidelity to the 7 principles, and working towards ensuring they deliver Systems Fidelity within the wider systems that Housing First effects or is effected by. Additionally, they deliver the Housing First Academy focussed on the Communities of Practice Hub, Training Hub and Housing First Europe Hub.

Rock Trust

Rock Trust is Scotland’s Youth Homelessness charity and has been supporting young people aged 16-25 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness since 1991. Our aim is to end youth homelessness in Scotland by ensuring that every young person has access to expert youth-specific services to assist them to avoid, survive, and move on from homelessness. Rock Trust designed and delivered the first Housing First for Youth project in the UK and has grown the service in multiple areas across Scotland. Ensuring high model fidelity, Rock Trust’s Housing First for Youth projects support young people to access a permanent home without condition and provides each individual with non-time limited, flexible support for as long as they require. Whatever it takes for as long as it takes. As of July 2021, Rock Trust has housed 39 young people through Housing First for Youth and has achieved a tenancy sustainment rate of over 92%.

Homeless Link

Homeless Link is the national membership charity for organisations working directly with people who become homeless in England. We work to make services better and campaign for policy change that will help end homelessness. Our vision is a country free from homelessness. We believe that everyone should have a place to call home and the support they need to keep it. Our Mission is to develop, inspire, support and sustain a movement of organisations working together to achieve positive futures for people who are homeless or vulnerably housed. We believe everyone should have the right to open and close their own front door and feel safe and secure in their own accommodation. Through our Housing First England project, we drive the scaling up of high-fidelity Housing First as a solution to end homelessness for people facing multiple disadvantages. ‘Homeless Link’s Housing First England project supports a national movement of Housing First services across the country, producing best practice guidance and research.

Crisis

Crisis is the national charity for people facing homelessness in the UK. We provide direct services to thousands of people, and we campaign for the changes needed to end homelessness for good. Housing First is a key part of our work, including directly providing it to clients in London and Newcastle, grant funding others to provide specialist Housing First provision, and advocacy work to make the case for fully rolling out the model. We believe that Housing First, within a housing-led system for everyone facing homelessness, has a crucial role to play in ending homelessness altogether.