Members Spotlight : Barrhead Housing Association introduces new Passport programme to help tackle homelessness in Scotland
According to the latest Scottish Government statistics, there were 8,319 young people registered as homeless in Scotland in 2019/2020*. This is a concerning figure as it represents almost 26% of the entire Scottish homeless population.
A new initiative developed by the Barrhead Housing Association has seen staff go into schools in Barrhead to talk to young people about their options for housing when they leave school, as a drive to reduce homelessness across Scotland.
Funded by Scottish Government through the SFHA Scottish Homeless Prevention Passport, this initiative ‘The Tenancy Resettlement Programme’ was initially launched in Liverpool. The aim of the programme is to educate young people about social housing, how to secure a tenancy in a social housing property and maintain their tenancy.
To-date the programme has been delivered by Hilary Smith, Tenancy Sustainment Officer, at Barrhead HA who goes into schools in East Renfrewshire and works with young people aged 16 – 25 to give them a full overview of the housing sector from different types of properties, to budgeting and maintaining a tenancy. Welfare Rights Officer Vivienne Betteridge also contributed to the course covering areas such as which benefits are available to different types of individuals and how to apply for them. As part of her talk, Hilary also discusses homelessness and explains that anyone could become homeless at anytime in their life.
The passport has been delivered in both St Lukes and Barrhead High and has been well received by both pupils and teachers. Hilary said, “Our aspiration is to have our own version of the passport, tailored to our specific geographical area, to ensure our young people are informed about their options when they leave school. We are still relatively early into the delivery of this programme and we’re loving the feedback and great response we have received from the kids to-date. It is an area that schools don’t seem to have any education in, but it’s such a practical skill for them leaving school.”