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What we do
Homeless Link is the national membership organisation for frontline homelessness agencies in England. Our mission is to be a catalyst that will help to bring an end to homelessness.
Key Functions
Homeless Link performs four key functions on behalf of its membership:
Representation
Being part of a strong, single, national voice that represents the views of agencies is vital in ensuring that the opinions of those delivering services are considered as a key part of wider policy debates. We aim to translate the needs and experiences of local organisations into an effective agenda for tackling homelessness at a local and national level. Homeless Link’s strength is that it advocates on behalf of the sector as a whole rather than representing the needs of individual agencies.
Technical aid and capacity building
Homeless Link provides practical services such as the provision of training and conferences to share best practice. It also offers hands on support with fundraising and the implementation of quality assurance. We provide members with regular information updates through our magazine Connect and our website
Issue and policy development
Support around policy and the potential impact of changing policy – for example, the Homelessness Bill and Supporting People – is crucial for agencies as the political framework in which service delivery operates changes. Contributing the experience of frontline agencies to the policy debates offers the chance to change policy to improve the lives of homeless people.
Service co-ordination
It is important to acknowledge that the sheer number and range of agencies that support homeless people, and the fact that homeless people frequently have a choice of service, means that co-ordination between agencies is imperative. This co-ordination ensures that duplication is kept to a minimum and the complex needs of homeless people can be met.
Who are our members?
There are many reasons why people become homeless. For some it is because of mental health problems, drug or alcohol dependency. Other causes are family breakdown or domestic violence. Many people have difficulty entering the community from institutionalised lives in care, prison or the armed forces.
The agencies charged with the task of helping homeless people face daily challenges. Their work is not glamorous nor is it likely to produce instant results. They can be isolated from agencies undertaking similar work, whereas in an ideal world they would be sharing ideas and good practice. This is where we come in.
Nearly 90 per cent of Homeless Link’s members provide services directly to homeless people. They include: hostels, day centres, resettlement agencies, housing advice centres, youth projects, health projects, welfare rights groups, regional homeless networks, refuges, drug and alcohol services, individuals and church groups. They provide such services as accommodation, day care, advice and counselling, health care and resettlement.
The majority of services for homeless people are delivered by comparatively small voluntary organisations. This means that policy development, technical support and issue management can usefully be done on behalf of a collective of agencies through a second tier.
Over 30,000 homeless people use services provided by Homeless Link's members every day.
35% of our members report that overall client numbers have increased by over 25% over the last 3 years - whilst only 8% report a decrease in clients
Members report that overall, funding has more or less kept pace with the increase in client numbers. However, 59% of those commenting reported a significant increase in conditions attached to funding.