Collaboration in Homelessness: Shared Voices, Shared Impact

Join us for the annual conference of the Centre for Homelessness Research and Practice (CHRP), bringing together researchers, service providers, policymakers, and people with lived experience of homelessness.

This year’s theme Collaboration in Homelessness: Shared Voices, Shared Impact, highlights the importance of co-production and inclusion in homelessness research and practice. The conference will explore how collaboration at all levels—bringing together lived experience expertise, frontline practice, and academic and policy-driven approaches—can lead to meaningful change.

About CHRP & Our Annual Conference

The Centre for Homelessness Research and Practice (CHRP) is dedicated to advancing research, policy, and practice to improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness. We work to bridge the gap between academia, frontline services, and those with lived experience.

Our annual conference provides a space for knowledge-sharing, partnership-building, and action-focused discussions. Last year’s event in Brighton brought together a diverse range of voices, and we are excited to build on that momentum in London 2025.

Key Themes & Workstreams- this year’s conference will focus on:

🌍 Climate Sustainability and Homelessness – Understanding the intersection of environmental change and housing insecurity.

🧠 Neurodivergence and Homelessness – Recognising and responding to the needs of neurodivergent individuals.

🚺 Women and Homelessness – Addressing gender-specific challenges and solutions.

👥 Workforce Development and Homelessness – Building a skilled and trauma-informed sector.

🔍 Peer Research & Co-Creation – Centering lived experience in research and policymaking.

Ticket Information - we are comitted to ensuring this conference is accessible for all.

🎟 Free tickets for people with recent lived experience of homelessness (eligibility criteria apply).

🎟 Discounted concession tickets for students, disabled people, over-60s, and those on a low income.

🎟 Small organisations (under £400k turnover) can request a discount code—please contact us.

💡 Join us for a day of collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and action. Be part of shaping the future of homelessness research and practice!

Buy tickets here

Part 1: Introducing Trauma Informed Approaches - sign up here

An understanding of what Trauma Informed Approaches are, how trauma can affect behaviour and an introduction to vicarious and secondary trauma.

This training is for frontline workers in the VCSE sector across Sussex who working with those with multiple compound needs.

This training will take place online via microsoft teams from 9:30am - 1pm with several scheduled breaks. There will be a mixture of presentation, short films, breakout groups and feedback time.

The key learning hopes for the sessions are:

• To consider definitions of Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences

• To recognise the prevalence of trauma amongst colleagues and people you are working with

• To recognise how trauma may affect people and contribute to their behaviours

• To be more confident about how to apply trauma informed approaches to your work practice

We appreciate that there are sensitive topics covered within this training and so to ensure that we are creating a safe space where participants feel comfortable to contribute we ask that you have your camera switched on (as much as possible), your microphone muted and that any potential distractions (emails, phone notifications) are kept to a minimum. This means that you will get the most out of the training session.

We encourage participants to join from a private, appropriate space whenever possible (e.g., not from public transport), and to use headphones if you’re in a shared environment like an office, to reduce the risk of others overhearing sensitive or confidential discussions.

There will already be a great amount of experience and wisdom within the group so please do come prepared to participate as much as you can as we can learn so much from each other.

You are welcome to take notes though the slides will be shared with you after the training.

SIGN UP HERE.

A chance to reflect and remember those who have died whilst experiencing homelessness in the last year.

Open to all, just turn up.

For more information visit www.archhealthcare.uk

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

Common Ambition are delighted to announce they are holding FREE co-production training workshops in June and July. With over 4 years of weekly meetings, developing our co-production practice, improving services and enabling lived experience voice to shape local strategies and policies, we want to share our knowledge, tools and tips to the wider sector.

We are offering an afternoon workshop that will include understanding co-production and more importantly trauma-informed co-production, recruitment, facilitation and service design tools, with lots of fun interactive activities. There are 3 opportunities to take part in this training and the dates, times and links to sign up are all below. It is open to anyone working in the homelessness or related sector.

Book here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1388202714689?aff=oddtdtcreator

Common Ambition are delighted to announce they are holding FREE co-production training workshops in June and July. With over 4 years of weekly meetings, developing our co-production practice, improving services and enabling lived experience voice to shape local strategies and policies, we want to share our knowledge, tools and tips to the wider sector.

We are offering an afternoon workshop that will include understanding co-production and more importantly trauma-informed co-production, recruitment, facilitation and service design tools, with lots of fun interactive activities. There are 3 opportunities to take part in this training and the dates, times and links to sign up are all below. It is open to anyone working in the homelessness or related sector.

Book here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1388228401519?aff=oddtdtcreator

Part 2: Trauma Informed Approaches - Skills

Trauma Informed Approaches Part 2 will take place in person in East Sussex (venue TBC) from 9:30am-1pm.

The key hopes for the sessions are:

• Explore the application of trauma informed principles and frameworks

• Consider further the impact of trauma and the role of regulation and relationship

• Characterising the trauma informed practitioner (what it looks like in practice) – characteristics/strategies

• Consider the impact our work can have on us and supportive factors

There will already be a great amount of experience and wisdom within the group so please do come prepared to participate as much as you can as we can learn so much from each other!

Please remember this training is suitable for those who have already completed Part 1 of the training.

Find out more here.

For those in local (pan-Sussex) organisations with a responsibility for their workforce development and what this can mean in practice, providing opportunities to share resources, support each other and also feedback into the system.

Details of the theme of the next event will be sent out nearer the time. If you would like to sign-up to the group please get in touch with Harriet.

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

These workshops are open to anyone but primarily for frontline workers who may be applying theory into practice.

We will provide a space to reflect, share best practice and learn from each other.

Each session will explore specific themes that complement the training and offer insight into how they apply across different areas of frontline work.

We will stay tuned to emerging issues and hot topics to ensure the workshops remain relevant and responsive.

Common Ambition are delighted to announce they are holding FREE co-production training workshops in June and July. With over 4 years of weekly meetings, developing our co-production practice, improving services and enabling lived experience voice to shape local strategies and policies, we want to share our knowledge, tools and tips to the wider sector.

We are offering an afternoon workshop that will include understanding co-production and more importantly trauma-informed co-production, recruitment, facilitation and service design tools, with lots of fun interactive activities. There are 3 opportunities to take part in this training and the dates, times and links to sign up are all below. It is open to anyone working in the homelessness or related sector.

Book here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1388233165769?aff=oddtdtcreator

In frontline work collaboration plays a vital role and sometimes we need to have tricky conversations with colleagues and those in other services. This workshop will be a space to get tips and practice in how to approach these challenging conversations.

Get your free tickets here

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

Part 1: Introducing Trauma Informed Approaches

An understanding of what Trauma Informed Approaches are, how trauma can affect behaviour and an introduction to vicarious and secondary trauma.

This training is for frontline workers in the VCSE sector across Sussex who working with those with multiple compound needs.

This training will take place online via microsoft teams from 9:30am - 1pm with several scheduled breaks. There will be a mixture of presentation, short films, breakout groups and feedback time.

The key learning hopes for the sessions are:

• To consider definitions of Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences

• To recognise the prevalence of trauma amongst colleagues and people you are working with

• To recognise how trauma may affect people and contribute to their behaviours

• To be more confident about how to apply trauma informed approaches to your work practice

We appreciate that there are sensitive topics covered within this training and so to ensure that we are creating a safe space where participants feel comfortable to contribute we ask that you have your camera switched on (as much as possible), your microphone muted and that any potential distractions (emails, phone notifications) are kept to a minimum. This means that you will get the most out of the training session.

We encourage participants to join from a private, appropriate space whenever possible (e.g., not from public transport), and to use headphones if you’re in a shared environment like an office, to reduce the risk of others overhearing sensitive or confidential discussions.

There will already be a great amount of experience and wisdom within the group so please do come prepared to participate as much as you can as we can learn so much from each other.

You are welcome to take notes though the slides will be shared with you after the training

Sign up here.

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

For those in local (pan-Sussex) organisations with a responsibility for their workforce development and what this can mean in practice, providing opportunities to share resources, support each other and also feedback into the system.

Details of the theme of the next event will be sent out nearer the time. If you would like to sign-up to the group please get in touch with Harriet.

Part 2: Trauma Informed Approaches - Skills

Trauma Informed Approaches Part 2 will take place in person in West Sussex (venue TBC) from 9:30am-1pm.

The key hopes for the sessions are:

• Explore the application of trauma informed principles and frameworks

• Consider further the impact of trauma and the role of regulation and relationship

• Characterising the trauma informed practitioner (what it looks like in practice) – characteristics/strategies

• Consider the impact our work can have on us and supportive factors

There will already be a great amount of experience and wisdom within the group so please do come prepared to participate as much as you can as we can learn so much from each other!

Please remember this training is suitable for those who have already completed Part 1 of the training.

Find our more here.

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

These workshops are open to anyone but primarily for frontline workers who may be applying theory into practice.

We will provide a space to reflect, share best practice and learn from each other.

Each session will explore specific themes that complement the training and offer insight into how they apply across different areas of frontline work.

We will stay tuned to emerging issues and hot topics to ensure the workshops remain relevant and responsive.

For those in local (pan-Sussex) organisations with a responsibility for their workforce development and what this can mean in practice, providing opportunities to share resources, support each other and also feedback into the system.

Details of the theme of the next event will be sent out nearer the time. If you would like to sign-up to the group please get in touch with Harriet.

Part 2: Trauma Informed Approaches - Skills

Trauma Informed Approaches Part 2 will take place in person at Justlife Hub, Brighton from 9:30am-1pm.

The key hopes for the sessions are:

• Explore the application of trauma informed principles and frameworks

• Consider further the impact of trauma and the role of regulation and relationship

• Characterising the trauma informed practitioner (what it looks like in practice) – characteristics/strategies

• Consider the impact our work can have on us and supportive factors

There will already be a great amount of experience and wisdom within the group so please do come prepared to participate as much as you can as we can learn so much from each other!

Please remember this training is suitable for those who have already completed Part 1 of the training.

Details of how to book will be added here shortly..

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

For those that have attended Part 1 and Part 2 of the Trauma Informed Approaches training this meet up is a chance to get together and share how we have embedded the learning into our working practice; to discuss the challenges and the positive changes we have made as well as having an opportunity to ask any follow up questions that have arisen since completing the training.

Sign up here.

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson

What:

A monthly forum for homelessness services across the city to share updates on services, best practice, updates on commissioning etc. Initially set up by homelessness commissioners at BHCC it is now chaired by Justlife.

Who for:

Attended by managers across the homelessness sector including day centres, housing providers, health, outreach and statutory services.

For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Sara Emerson