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Blog posted by: Helen Harrison, Tuesday, 17 July 2018.

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. 

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. 

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