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MORE THAN FURNITURE CONFERENCE 2005FRIDAY 26 AUGUST 2005, DEWARS CENTRE, PERTHThe theme of this year’s More Than Furniture Conference was homelessness and the role that the reuse of furniture plays in reducing homelessness. The aims of conference were: • To raise awareness of the work of furniture projects amongst homelessness agencies • To update furniture projects on issues surrounding homelessness and housing, including the homeless employability agenda Over 100 delegates attended the Conference and they were welcomed to Perth by Provost Bob Scott of Perth & Kinross Council. To read the welcome speech click here Plenary Sessions Session 1 Homelessness Monitoring Group Priorities (pdf, approx. 400KB) Robert Aldridge, Director, Scottish Council for the Single Homeless The presentation referred to the ‘Helping Homeless People: Homelessness Monitoring Group Second Report - April 2005’ which can be downloaded from the Scottish Executive website Working in Partnership with your Local Authority (pdf, approx. 850KB] Jamie Simpson, Administrator, Furniture Recycling Project Angus Implementing a Local Authority Homelessness Strategy (pdf, approx. 200KB) Tracy Lindsay, Homelessness Policy Officer, East Dunbartonshire Council To access the East Dunbartonshire Homelessness Strategy please visit their website and search for ‘Homelessness Strategy'. Session 2 Running a Successful Furniture Project - the Inside Story (pdf, approx. 600KB) Jackie Agnew, Project Coordinator, HomeAid West Lothian Employability & Homelessness (pdf, approx. 350KB) Geraldine Wooley, Coordinator, Scottish Homelessness & Employability Network (SHEN) Linking Starter Packs & Furniture Schemes (pdf, approx. 450KB) Annie Clark, Project Coordinator, Starter Packs Angus Tom Roberts, Communications Coordinator, Scottish Council for the Single Homeless The presentation refers to a guide to Starter Packs – ‘Start Me Up! A handbook for starter packs for homeless people’ – which is available on their website (click here) Workshop Session The delegates were split into 4 workshops to discuss how furniture projects and Local Authorities Homelessness Units can work together more effectively. They discussed the following 4 questions: • What do furniture projects want from Local Authority Homelessness Units? • What do LA Homelessness Units want from furniture projects? • What barriers are there to closer working? • How can these barriers be overcome? The outputs from the workshops will appear here once they have been written up and actions agreed. Furniture Projects Session Delegates from Furniture projects discussed some of the issues around the following two themes: • Moving towards greater financial sustainability • How furniture projects can work together as a more effective coalition The outputs from this session will be written up and made available in the near future. Visit Delegates then visited the Furniture Project Perth. To download an information leaflet click here (pdf, approx. 480KB) Partners and Sponsors The conference was run in partnership with the Scottish Council for Single Homeless (SCSH) and supported by SEPA Tayside   Further Information You can find out more about the Scottish Executive position on homelessness by contacting Homelessness Team Area 1H (South) Victoria Quay Edinburgh EH6 6QQ t: 0131 244 0356 e: homelessness@scotland.gov.uk w: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Housing/Homelessness |
