In April last year, Crisis turned 50. While this milestone is usually an achievement for an organisation, it’s one we never wanted to reach. We exist because homelessness still exists in Great Britain, and that’s something we can’t celebrate.
So we decided in our 50th year to deliver on a big ambition. We committed to producing a plan to end homelessness in Britain, once and for all. We kick started the discussion at our policy conferences last year with excellent speakers and innovative ideas.
A year later, and we’re ready to launch our plan – Everybody In: How to end homelessness in Great Britain – at our conferences in London, Cardiff, and Edinburgh in June. The plan will be put before the governments of England, Scotland, and Wales, outlining the actions they need to take.
What’s in the plan?
Over the last year, we’ve consulted over 1,000 people, including people with lived experience of homelessness, policy experts, frontline staff, and local government, to understand exactly what it will take to end homelessness in Britain.
We partnered with organisations such as ERSA to reach experts and frontline staff with experience. Our joint workshop in October last year on Employment and Homelessness brought together a range of stakeholders whose contributions were invaluable.
We’ve also looked at existing evidence of what works both here and abroad. And we’ve partnered with experts in housing, welfare, and other areas to carry out new research that finds answers to the big policy barriers to tackling homelessness.
Drawing on this wide-ranging research and consultation, the plan provides evidence-based solutions for how to end the worst forms of homelessness in Britain. It sets out the policy changes needed, what the cost will be, who is responsible, and how long it will take.
The plan will focus on three key themes: preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place; designing more effective rapid responses for people who become homeless; and creating permanent solutions for those who need ongoing support.
Join us for the launch of Everybody In: How to end homelessness in Great Britain.
We’ll be launching the plan at our policy conferences, as well as the next phase of the public campaign Everybody In, through which we’ll be building public and political support for ending homelessness.
These events will be an opportunity to hear about the details of the plan through keynote speeches from experts from here and abroad. Senior political figures will be present to offer their responses.
We also hope the events will be a chance for sector friends, experts, and people with experience of homelessness to take our shared ambition for ending homelessness to a new political level.
Sign up to join us at our policy conferences and the launch of the plan – it would be great to see you there!