We know from our members that homelessness services are delivered by a wide range of people, in a wide range of roles. Alongside familiar frontline positions, there are volunteers, specialist workers and local teams whose skills, knowledge and relationships make a vital difference to people experiencing homelessness every day.
As we continue developing the National Homelessness Skills Framework, we want to make sure it reflects this breadth. The framework is designed to describe the different roles, skills and capabilities that exist across homelessness services, and to support clearer routes into, through and around the workforce.
To help us build a fuller and more accurate picture, we're asking organisations, partners, volunteers and frontline teams to contribute in two ways: telling us about specialist frontline roles, and sharing volunteer case studies.
1. Tell us about specialist frontline roles
We're gathering information about specialist frontline paid roles that provide direct support to people experiencing homelessness. These are roles that may not always fit neatly into broader job families, but which are essential to how services respond to specific needs, settings or groups of people.
Specialist frontline roles might include posts focused on:
- resettlement
- tenancy sustainment
- hospital discharge
- domestic abuse
- mental ill health
- young people
- migrant homelessness
- women's services
- prison release
- debt management
- multiple disadvantage
This isn't an exhaustive list, and these roles may be delivered by homelessness organisations, local authorities, voluntary and community sector partners, faith-based organisations or other specialist services.
We're particularly interested in hearing about role titles, job descriptions, key responsibilities, day-to-day tasks, required skills and experience, routes into the role, training needs, and how the role connects with other parts of the homelessness and wider support system.
By sharing this information, you'll help us ensure the National Homelessness Skills Framework reflects the real diversity of frontline practice and recognises the specialist knowledge that exists across the sector.
2. Share a volunteer case study
We're also looking for short case studies from people volunteering in homelessness services. These stories will help bring volunteer roles to life, showing what the work looks like in practice, the skills volunteers use, and the difference they make to services and communities.
A case study could describe a typical shift, the kinds of tasks involved, the support volunteers receive, what motivates someone to volunteer, and what they've learned through the role. It doesn't need to be long or formal — we're most interested in real examples that help others understand the contribution volunteers make.
We're particularly interested in case studies linked to the following volunteer role families:
- Outreach support (client facing)
- Accommodation and housing support (client facing)
- Food, catering and practical support (client facing)
- Wellbeing, activities and learning support (client facing)
- Advocacy, peer support and community links (client facing)
- Events, fundraising and campaigns (indirect/possible client contact)
- Administration, communications and digital (non client-facing)
- Governance, advisory and specialist (non client-facing)
If you know a volunteer who'd be willing to share their experience, or if your organisation can help us develop a case study, we'd be very pleased to hear from you.
Get involved
Whether you can offer a volunteer case study, information about a specialist frontline role, or simply point us towards someone who may be able to help, we'd welcome your input. Together, we can make sure the Skills Framework reflects the real diversity of the homelessness workforce.
Please contact Sirea Jabar - National Learning & Development Manager: sirea.jabar@homelesslink.org.uk.
