Centre for Homelessness Research & Practice (CHRP)

Beyond Categories: Intersectionality in Homelessness
Join us for the annual conference of the Centre for Homelessness Research and Practice (CHRP), bringing together people working in homelessness services, research, policy, and those with lived experience.

This year’s conference looks at how people’s experiences of homelessness are shaped by multiple factors at the same time - such as health, gender, family life, immigration status, and the systems designed to support them. Rather than focusing on one issue or group in isolation, the day will explore how these experiences overlap, and what this means for practice, policy and support.

About CHRP & Our Annual Conference

The Centre for Homelessness Research and Practice (CHRP) works to improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness by bringing together evidence, frontline experience and lived experience. The annual conference provides a space to share learning, build partnerships and focus on practical change across the sector.

After last year’s conference sold out, CHRP has moved to a larger venue for 2026 and released additional tickets. The programme has also been shaped by feedback, with an extra seminar stream added and the return of the popular networking hour to allow more learning and connection.

Key Themes & Workstreams

This year’s conference explores homelessness through intersecting experiences, systems, and structures. Rather than focusing on single catergories, contributions have been encoiuraged to explore how factors interact, overlap and compound people's experiences of homelessness.

Some of these factors can include but are not limited to:

🏠 Homelessness across childhood, young people and families
🧠 Neurodivergence and mental health
🚺 Women’s experiences and hidden homelessness
🌍 Migration and insecure immigration status
🧩 How systems and services help — or create barriers
🔍 How data, evidence and labels shape responses to homelessness

We welcome contributions from research, frontline practice, policy, lived experience and creative approaches such as exhibitions or participatory work.

Ticket Information

CHRP is committed to ensuring the conference remains accessible:

🎟 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

💡 Join a growing community shaping the future of homelessness research, policy and practice through collaboration, evidence and lived experience.

Info: Invisible in Data, Neglected in Policy: The Hidden Harm of Women’s Rough Sleeping

Info: Dr Amelia Draper: "When Support Isn’t Enough”: Beneficiary-Identified Barriers to Engagement in Services for Severe and Multiple Disadvantage. Lucy Devonport: Navigating Complexity: How Homelessness Service Providers Understand and Response to Modern Homelessness

Info: Georgia Leith: “I felt Invisible”: Revealing the Reality Behind Hidden Homelessness

Info: Dr Julia Domanska: Beyond the “Homeless” Label: Who Gets to Define Youth in Crisis? Creative Possibilities for Participatory Research. Sarah McCoy: Telling the Whole Story: Co-Created Composite Case Studies in Youth Justice and Psychological Housing Interventions

Info: Maud Pedemonte-Ellis: Hope, Trust & Relationships: Resilient Systems in Uncertainty. Gail Butler: The Ripple Effects of Reflective Practice: Rooted in Lived Experience-Led Research

Info: Claire Ritchie: A Case Study – Incorporating Trauma Informed Care Into Services for Domestic Abuse. Andrew Guise: What Can We Do About Stigmatisation of Homelessness? Emerging Results From The South London Social Responses to Stigma Study. Nichola Harris: Beyond Boundaries: A System-Wide Approach to Psychological Support in Homelessness Services. Reflections from a trainee clinical psychologist.

Info: Kimberley Estenson & Freya Thompson: Psychological Approaches for Supporting People in Temporary Accommodation: Reflections on Adaptations, Challenges and Impact

Info: Marc Pescod: “Literacy Is More Than Reading”: Intersectional Understandings of Literacy Among Young People Experiencing Homelessness. Stevie: "Your voice, your choice. Lessons from a young person as co-researcher."

Info: Dr Alasdair Churchard: Evidence and Best Practice Guidance on Autism and Homelessness. Lucy Hartland-Grant: ADHD and Homelessness: Findings from a Global Meta-Analysis .

Info: Bels Wathen: Outreach Models of Nursing for People Experiencing Homelessness. Dr Michelle Holmes & Holly Warhurst: Developing Oral Health Services for Vulnerably Housed Populations in the UK: A Literature Review of Delivery Models, Access and Implementation

Info: Jodie Chan & Sarah Hancock: Creating a Psychologically Informed Environment for Research on Holistic, Trauma-Informed Healthcare with Women Experiencing Homelessness

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Host or Publisher Centre for Homelessness Research and Practice