Last updated: 06 October 2025

Overview

Nobody should have to leave part of themselves at the door to access services.  However, racism and discrimination affect the services and support available to racially and ethnically marginalised people, putting those experiencing homelessness at even greater risk of exclusion.

Historically, homelessness services were designed so that they met the needs of a very specific group of people (heterosexual, white, men) and there is often a lack of awareness or knowledge of the direct and systemic effects of racism or the need to build cultural competency so that homelessness services are accessible and deliver for all those who require help.

Who is this page for?

The following page is for all staff who work in the homelessness sector and want to make improvements to service provision and practice, so that racially and ethnically marginalised people experiencing homelessness receive as high quality a service as their white counterparts.

With thanks to Expert Link and the contributors with lived experience, who kindly shared their stories but acknowledge that their experiences do not represent all racially and ethnically marginalised people. Trigger warning - this guidance includes details of racism.

Racism

The Equality Act 2010 is a UK law that protects people from discrimination based on nine protected characteristics.

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Although the Equality Act gives people legal protection from discrimination based on race, racism is still a daily reality for marginalised people. Racism is defined as:

Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalised. The belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.

Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matters movement, there was a sudden spotlight on racism through and across our systems, and an acknowledgement that racism shows up in different ways and has a range of impacts on individuals and communities.

Direct

Direct racism is overt, and more easily identified. It could include using derogatory language or physical violence to distinguish a particular group as inferior. For example, the abusive messages received by Black football players from the Euro 2020 football final, or this quote from Crisis’ report on racism (2024):

“…The guys said to us, these just ordinary guys drinking in the pub, they said, ‘You lot are not welcome next week when we have our big St George’s day party’ and I’m thinking flipping heck, and they say this out in the open in the pub.”

This kind of racism can also be ‘covert’ or under the radar, often based on assumptions or stereotypes about minoritised ethnic groups that steer someone’s thoughts and behaviours. For example, a Black person who is frustrated may be perceived as angry or aggressive and treated more harshly than a non-Black person, resulting in service exclusion. A quote from Crisis’s report highlights this:

“You can tell when people see and treat you differently, have a point of view, think of you a certain way. You can just see it but because they don’t actually say anything, you can’t really call it out, or you can, but then you just reinforce the stereotype that they’ve got of you because then you’re the angry Black man or angry Black woman.”

Covert racism also links to microaggressions; subtle, commonplace, and often unintentional verbal or nonverbal actions that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages towards members of marginalised groups.

From a service perspective, it is easier both for staff and people being supported to identify and challenge more direct and open forms of racism, but organisational efforts to be anti-racist often begin, and end, here. However, while more difficult, it is essential that attention is also given to indirect racism, and beyond that, to enable genuinely inclusive services, organisations should also consider systemic forms of racism.

Systemic

Systemic racism is less about individual acts towards people, or communities, and more about societal structures and how they work for the people they serve. Homelessness is a systemic issue, fed by other systems such as, education, health and social care, criminal justice, as well as housing. Within each of these interlocking systems, racism shows up within policies and practices that make it fundamentally more difficult for People of Colour to access support and services, and Shelter (2025) concludes in their report:

People of Colour, particularly Black communities, are more likely to experience homelessness and live in deprived neighbourhoods or poor-quality homes.

Anti-racism

Anti-racist practices must acknowledge and tackle both direct, covert and systemic forms of racism in a proactive way. Some anti-racist practices may include:

  • Leadership

    Policy

    Implementing a zero-tolerance policy on direct racism. Build this policy into the culture of the organisation where incidences of direct racism are rare and when they do occur, are challenged and discussed.
  • Leadership

    Awareness

    Raising awareness of covert racism, how it may show up in homelessness services and how it can be identified – name it.
  • Leadership

    Monitoring

    Monitoring and recording incidents of racism and build in regular reviews to improve practice.
  • Leadership

    Lasting change and improvement

    Avoiding tick-box training exercises on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) with no follow-up actions, and instead consider how policies and practices are shaping individual, team and organisational understanding of creating equity, promoting diversity and being inclusive. Remember that anti-racism practice is ongoing– there are no quick fixes.

Build a better understanding of race, ethnicity and the importance of cultural awareness

This can be done through:

  • Training, such as Homeless Link’s Race, Ethnicity and Homelessness course.
  • Involving people with lived experience of being racially/ethnically marginalised and homeless in the development of policies, procedures and practice
  • Developing in-house skills/knowledge to for continuous improvement exercises such as completing the Homeless Link EDI Maturity Self-Assessment tool –or creating team meeting exercises which reflect on policies and practices
  • Partnering with By and For organisations who specialise in support for racially and ethnically marginalised people to draw on their knowledge and expertise, as well as supporting their work in championing the needs and rights of those they support.

Culture

Culture is defined as the shared beliefs, values, practices, and social behaviours that characterise a group of people. Culture can be built through language, food and spirituality as well as sport, leisure, geography and shared history.

It is important to acknowledge an individual’s race and ethnicity. Race has no biological basis and is socially constructed around someone’s skin colour, hair texture and facial features, where ethnicity refers to someone’s cultural heritage. The mix of race and ethnicity is completely individualised, and a person-centred approach is crucial for understanding, and thus meeting, someone’s needs. For example, a person may identify as Black African (race) and British i(ethnicity). Both are part of the person’s identity, and neither should have to be hidden to access and receive a high standard of service.

Building cultural competency

Cultural competency is the ability to effectively interact with people from cultures different from one’s own, especially through a knowledge and appreciation of cultural differences. To ensure that a person’s race and/or ethnicity is not a barrier to accessing and receiving support, frontline staff, managers and leaders should consider the following points:

  • Build an awareness of your own cultural identity, biases you may hold or how your own identity is different to other
  • Develop a self-awareness of your responses to other people and how they affect your actions
  • Accept that people may have different values and practices to you
  • Show a genuine interest in people from diverse backgrounds
  • Improve knowledge of different religious and spiritual beliefs and recognise how they might drive or influence behaviour or decision-making
  • Adopt active listening practices and truly hear people and their views
  • Practice evaluating the cultural needs of the people you’re supporting, and advocate effectively for them
  • Create an organisational culture where challenging and addressing prejudice, discrimination and inequalities is standard practice

Some cultural specifics:

Spirituality 

Spiritual and religious beliefs can be an integral part of a person’s culture and identity. A person of faith should not have to compromise their beliefs to access a service to its full potential and efforts should be made to offer spaces and services for staff and people in the service to meet their spiritual needs. This could include providing prayer spaces, washing facilities and access to kitchen facilities at different times.

Top tip – create a cultural calendar to ensure that different religious holidays and festivals are acknowledged and celebrated by the organisation. 

Black magic

In some communities of South Asian and African origin there is a strong belief in the concept of Black magic, Evil eye, Jinn and possession by spirits. This is a belief which is held in many religions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism. A person who feels they are afflicted by black magic may be less willing to engage or reluctant to share their concerns. This may be particularly difficult if an individual is experiencing poor mental health and does not want to work with health services.

Top tip – Be aware that there are individuals claiming to be black magic healers, for example Jinn Busters, which can pose a safeguarding risk to vulnerable individuals. Consider skilling up through training. 

Hair

In Black culture, hair is far more than a physical attribute; it is a powerful symbol of identity, cultural heritage, and resistance against oppression. There is a rich history associated with hair; including braiding patterns serving to communicate secret messages during the Civil Rights movement to dreadlocks associated with the Rastafarian theology where followers were forbidden to cut their hair and twisted instead. With the abolition of slavery many Black people felt a need to fit in with mainstream white society and smoothed their hair. Although this continues today, there is a movement to reclaim natural hair. Homelessness services should acknowledge the importance of hair and consider the support they could offer in terms of providing products or access to specialist hairdressing.

Top tip – Acknowledge the importance of hair and ask what could be done to provide support for care and styling. Never touch someone’s hair out of curiosity. 

Food

Many homelessness services provide food to the people they support, and the kind of food offered can be a barrier to some racially/ethnically marginalised people. For example, serving exclusively bacon sandwiches for breakfast may be inappropriate for those who are prohibited to eat pork. Serving food which caters for different diets and religious practice is a concrete way to include people.

Top tip – Provide varied options and create special menus which serve food embracing and celebrating different cultures. 

Alcohol 

Alcohol and going to the pub can be ingrained into the culture of an organisation; however, for those who do not drink or go to pubs, by choice or in-line with religious beliefs, this can be exclusionary and create a sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’ which reinforces a culture of otherness and difference and can filter into service provision.

Top tip – Ensure that team and organisational activities are suitable for all staff and avoid exclusive pub/alcohol related socialisation. 

Being culturally aware and developing cultural competency builds a space which is safe and welcoming for everyone – colleagues, partners and people being supported.

Lived experience of racism in homelessness services

Three people with lived experience of homelessness shared their experiences of racism, and recommendations to services, for this guidance.

Find out more
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Other resources

Training and consultancy

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Guides

  • Bringing the Equality Act to Life
  • Language Matters
  • Power and Oppression

Equality Diversity and Inclusion Maturity Self-Assessment Tool

Research

Other

Upcoming events

Inclusion in Homelessness Services practice forum on supporting racially and ethnically marginalised people