I am thrilled to join the Centre for Homelessness Impact as an Associate to explore the role that sport might play in preventing homelessness. The project perfectly aligns with my passion for addressing homelessness and represents an opportunity to explore bold solutions and drive meaningful change by applying insights from data and lived experiences.

My connection to the Centre is shaped by a belief in the transformative power of sport for social change. Early in my career, working at the grassroots level, I witnessed first-hand how sport can profoundly impact individuals living with long-term health conditions or navigating complex social challenges. 

Beyond promoting physical health, sport improves mental wellbeing, builds confidence, and nurtures a sense of belonging. That early experience ignited my passion for leveraging sport as a tool for social change - a passion that has shaped my work on national projects like Positive Futures, a Home Office-funded project, and my role as a trustee for an Active Partnership. Most recently I was inspired by and learnt much from working on The Royal Foundation’s Homewards programme.

Having worked with care leavers, individuals affected by sexual exploitation, and people in the criminal justice system, I’ve seen how trauma and systemic failures can overshadow lives. 

I’m excited to bring my experiences across the public, private, and voluntary sectors - both at grassroots and senior levels - to the Centre for Homelessness Impact.

The Centre for Homelessness Impact is keen to explore how organisations outside the homelessness sector can bring new approaches and additional capacity to efforts to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place. While it cannot resolve homelessness on its own, sport can play a vital role in building community, belonging, and purpose for individuals experiencing homelessness - and, crucially, in prevention. By collaborating with non-traditional stakeholders, such as sports organisations, we can challenge conventional approaches and bring fresh ideas to the table.

Many sports clubs and bodies already engage with homelessness through their charity and community work, which is commendable. But, as we see so often in homelessness, this engagement tends to concentrate on emergency interventions or to support people once they experience homelessness, with all the trauma that can bring.

We want to reimagine such engagement and explore what the impact would be if sports organisations re-focused their resources and convening power ‘upstream’ into activities that support people at risk of homelessness or who are struggling but not yet in crisis. 

By working with sports clubs, we want to develop a pilot to experiment with a new type of programme, based on evidence of what works, whose aim is to prevent homelessness rather than respond to its consequences.

I’m inspired by programmes like Kicks in football, which use sport to tackle and prevent youth crime and anti-social behaviour. Closer to home, local organisations like the Leeds Rhinos Foundation have an ambitious new strategy that aims to build on their existing reach within the communities they serve, and establish their role across the city. This offers a fertile ground to test, learn, and inspire others. 

This opportunity represents a new chapter in my journey - a chance to explore, experiment, and evaluate how combining sport with data and evidence can drive systemic change. 

I am eager to collaborate with like-minded individuals and organisations, pooling our knowledge and resources to develop evidence-based solutions, challenge the narrative about homelessness and shift the focus from solely managing symptoms to addressing the systemic issues at play.

The road ahead will be challenging, but I am filled with optimism and determination to contribute to the Centre’s mission of ending homelessness. If this sounds like something you would like to be involved in, please email me at: joanne@homelessnessnessimpact.org 

• Jo Metcalfe is an Associate at the Centre for Homelessness Impact

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