Impact Forum

Hear from our CEO, Ligia Teixeira, as she welcomes you to our 2022 Impact Forum.

Ligia Teixeira, CEO, Centre for Homelessness Impact

This year is a defining year for homelessness. We have seen radical changes in approaches during the pandemic, and in the short term, the number of people experiencing homelessness have fallen sharply. Can we build on this progress to accelerate moves to end homelessness? Or will things return to business as usual?

Guillermo Rodriguez, Centre for Homelessness Impact, Patrick Duce, World Habitat, David Pentland, Speaker with lived experience of homelessness, Manuel Hennin, French Ministry of Housing, Charlotte Tottenham, ImpactHK

Much of the homelessness system hinges on the legal duties of local authorities to relieve homelessness, and there’s a big voluntary secretary doing vital work alongside. Social business also plays a role in redistributing profits and providing opportunities for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Josh Littlejohn MBE, founder of Social Bite. Compere: Greg Hurst, Centre for Homelessness Impact

The Centre for Homelessness Impact’s mission is to accelerate an end to homelessness through better evidence and data. But what does it mean to end homelessness, and how will we know when we’ve got there? The starting point is to define what it means to 'end homelessness'.

Mark Kelvin, Glasgow Alliance to End Homelessness, Derek McGowan, Aberdeen City Council, Michelle Binfield, London Councils, Linda Hobson, Newcastle City Council

We’re delighted to host a keynote speech from Julie James, Minister for Climate Change in Wales, to talk about her vision to end homelessness in all its forms, and how this has been impacted by the pandemic with key takeaways shared by Dr Lindsay Cordery-Bruce.

Julie James, Minister for Climate Change, Wales, and Dr Lindsay Cordery-Bruce, CEO of The Wallich

Directly elected mayors in England and Wales are elected to lead combined authorities. Among the most high profile is Andy Burnham, Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, whose priorities for his second term in office include ending sleeping out.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

One of Scotland’s key policy innovations has been to introduce rapid rehousing, whereby people experiencing or at risk of homelessness are offered rapid access to stable housing in a bid to avoid or shorten the length of time spent in temporary accommodation. But how is it working, and what can we learn from this innovation?

Allan Jones, Aberdeenshire Council, Faith Ougham, Speaker with lived experience of homelessness, Kate Polson, CEO of Rock Trust, Malcolm Page, Salvation Army

One of Scotland’s biggest public health challenges is that of drug-related deaths. Figures in Scotland are the highest in Europe, with more than half of deaths among people experiencing homelessness relating to drugs in 2020. Many of these deaths are preventable, so what needs to change?

Rachel Johns, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Hannah Carver, Lecturer in Substance Use, Peter Krykant, Lived experience speaker, Lorraine McGrath, CEO, Simon Community Scotland, Paul Boggie, Author of Heroin to Hero

Shona Robison MSP, is joined by our CEO, Ligia Teixeira, as they discuss what will success look like in Scotland in 2022?

Shona Robison MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government (SNP) Compere: Ligia Teixeira, CEO, Centre for Homelessness Impact

Words matter. In this session, we’ll be looking at language, its relationship to homelessness, how this has been impacted by the pandemic, and the role of the media.

Hannah Green, Centre for Homelessness Impact, Joyce Juma-Phiri, Speaker with lived experience of homelessness, Derek Jaffray, Speaker with lived experience of homelessness, Michael Buchanan, BBC journalist

Join our CEO as we reflect on the discussion, debates and ideas from the day.

Ligia Teixeira, CEO, Centre for Homelessness Impact

We are proud to be joined online by Elly Goodman from Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, who will share a project they embarked on in lockdown involving women across Glasgow, imagining what life might be like post covid, using music and writing to explore their emotions.

Elly Goodman

Join us for a performance by Surfing Sofas, a writer from London who uses his work to break the stigmas based around homelessness and raise awareness of the homelessness crisis in the UK.

Surfing Sofas