Under One Roof 2018

Tuesday, 17 July 2018 - 11:03am

On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th July 2018, Homeless Link held its annual conference, Under One Roof. It was three days packed full of talks, workshops, networking and sharing best practice for our members and people working in the homelessness sector. 

Homeless Link award winners

On 2nd July, we launched a new pre-conference session: MemberZone, an afternoon of talks and in-depth discussions for Homeless Link members. Sessions included the launch of Homeless Link’s new three-year strategy, Creating the Change, providing an overview of our plan to achieve our vision together with our members. We took a look at the new Social Investment Fund and discussed Homeless Link’s work on Housing First and Communities of Practice.

The next day the conference was kicked off with a panel discussion chaired by Homeless Link’s CEO Rick Henderson, joined by Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter and Carol Matthews, Chief Executive of Riverside. Alongside David Ford, founder of Expert Link, a peer-led network which aims to amplify the voices of people who have experienced severe and multiple disadvantage, the panel discussed the role housing and support should play in helping to end homelessness. 

A further highlight was a Question Time style panel session with the Chief Executives of the Making Every Adult Matter coalition, Centre for Mental Health, Clinks, AGENDA, Expert Citizens CIC, Collective Voice and Homeless Link who tackled a range of questions on how best to support people facing multiple disadvantage.  An interesting debate took place on the possibilities and practicalities of systems change.

On the second day of the conference, there was a speech and Q&A session with Jeremy Swain, the new Head of the Rough Sleeping Initiative Team at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG). Delegates at the conference didn’t miss the opportunity to ask him some important questions about the Government’s aim to end rough sleeping by 2027. 

Across the three days, delegates attended over 30 informative and inspiring workshops led by a range of experts working in the sector, across a wide range of topics. They included a fascinating session by Changing Lives, sharing good practice advice for supporting women experiencing domestic abuse, an in-depth look at the future funding of supported housing from the policy team at Homeless Link, and a talk led by Westminster City Council about their work implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act.

On Tuesday evening, the winners of the Homeless Link Excellence Awards 2018 were announced. In its first year, the Awards are an important opportunity to showcase the innovative and effective work that our members are doing around the country to support those experiencing homelessness.

The Homeless Link Excellence Awards winners are: 

Excellence in co-production

1st place, The Booth Centre

2nd place, Shelter, National Campaign for Homeless People Limited

3rd place, Expert Citizens C.I.C

Innovation in housing

1st, Hope into Action

2nd, Thames Reach Charity Ltd

3rd, Basis Yorkshire

Excellence in supporting people

1st place, Changing Lives (The Cyrenians Ltd)

2nd place, The Bridge (East Midlands)

3rd place, Look Ahead Care, Housing and Support

Best use of technology

1st place, Beam

2nd place, Humber Help website

3rd place, Shelter, National Campaign for Homeless People Limited

Social enterprise of the year

1st, Providence Row / Rise Bakery

2nd, Julian House

3rd, Wintercomfort for the homeless

Promoting diversity

1st, The Salvation Army

2nd, The Green Room - St Mungo's

3rd, Stonewall Housing 

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