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King's College London

HealthSociety

A national Peer Network for social workers specialising in homelessness and rough sleeping

"The impact of the specialist homelessness social work role and next steps for policy and practice in England"

Manchester, 4 November 2025: (King's College London news item about this event – including slides)

A message from Ellie Atkins about this event:

"What once was an idea to bring a few people together around a brew and a few biscuits grew legs this week. The national event on the specialist homelessness social work role organised by Manchester City Council and King's College London was a reminder of what can happen when people come together with shared purpose and compassion.

The room was filled with humility — the voices of lived experience, practitioners, researchers, and leaders acknowledging both the power and the limits of what we can do alone. The visual storytelling captured by Ian, beautifully illustrated our collective intent: to connect, to listen, and to act with care.

What struck me most was the sense of belonging — a recognition that specialist homelessness social work is not a fringe effort but a vital, human one. It’s about standing alongside people facing multiple exclusion, not as experts fixing, but as allies, walking with.

The conversations reaffirmed that change begins in solidarity: small acts of courage, shared learning, and persistence in the face of complexity.

Huge gratitude to Sarah McClinton for chairing the day with clarity, vision and compassion, and to John Herring for compering the morning with warmth and conviction. Thank you to the Mustard Tree — a remarkable Manchester community asset — for hosting us in a space that truly reflects dignity and hope.

Thank you to the leadership of Bernadette Enright whose culture of kindness and innovation keeps the people we serve in Manchester at the heart of everything we do in Adult Social Care. Special thanks to Joanna Midgley for joining us and for her continued support.

A heartfelt moment of the day came from Steph Grant, whose voice spoke to our social work values and hope for a better future for those we serve.

Thank you to Sarah Blackmore and Adi Cooper OBE for their insightful panel reflections, and to our speakers Jess Harris at King's College London, Barney Wells, Dr Karl Mason, and Cristina Temenos for sharing knowledge with such honesty and purpose.

Gratitude to Liz Kundi and Amber Redding for guiding the afternoon of the National Peer Network of social workers celebrating their courage, wisdom, and ongoing commitment to this work.

We left the event with a fire in our belly and ‘why can’t we’ attitude!

And finally, recognition to Professor Michael Preston-Shoot and Adi Cooper OBE whose longstanding leaderships in this area of service, continues to shape and inspire us.

I left feeling humbled, hopeful and energised to be part of the change-

Specialist homelessness social work is not a niche — it is a vital movement grounded in human rights, dignity and connection to close the equity gap with people experiencing multiple exclusion homelessness, disadvantage and heath inequality.

Together, in solidarity, we can build the conditions for real change. 💪"

Ellie Atkins - Sarah McClinton - Jess Harris 4.11.25
(from left) Ellie Atkins, Sarah McClinton (Chief Social Worker for Adults) and Jess Harris (King's College London) at the event in Manchester on 4 November 2025.
Group of people standing in front of a board covered with graphic scribing
(from left) Jess Harris, Karl Mason, Sarah Blackmore, Cristina Temenos, Adi Cooper, Ellie Atkins, Barney Wells at the Mustard Tree, Manchester on 4 November 2025.

Meetings in 2026

Next online network meeting: 4 February 2026.

Past meetings

  • 4 November 2025
  • 6 August 2025
  • 7 May 2025
  • 5 February 2025
  • 2 October 2024
  • 5 June 2024
  • 7 February 2024
  • 4 October 2023 (launch)

To receive updates, or suggest topics to discuss, email: ellie.atkins@manchester.gov.uk

Welcome from Ellie Atkins, Manager, Rough Sleepers Social Work Team

Ellie Atkins

Hello and a very warm welcome! The spirit of this Network is a ‘place of belonging’ for us, as social workers across England specialising in the field of homelessness and rough sleeping. We have an exciting opportunity to pool our knowledge and resources and support a national movement for change. We advocate for the right care and support for many misunderstood people in our society, based on our intrinsic motivation to promote human rights, social justice and the self determination of the people we serve. Over the last few years, key documents have had impact on our practice. Last year, ADASS and the Local Government Association (LGA) published ‘Care and support and homelessness: Top tips on the role of adult social care’. There is extensive learning from the harrowing narratives of lives lost, captured in national analysis of homeless thematic reviews and/or SARS. The evidence base is fundamental to our journey as emerging experts in this field. I can’t wait to hear how you want to take this Network forward.

Welcome from Jess Harris, Researcher, HSCWRU, King’s College London

HSCWRU is delighted to support this Network. A central finding of our recent national research (2019-23) on Strengthening Adult Safeguarding responses to homelessness and self-neglect is the importance of the specialist homelessness social work role. But this important role remains rare nationally, and often isolated within localities, with no peer support. A small follow up study has been exploring the impact and support needs of the role - findings are here.

Please do explore more of HSCWRU’s Homelessness Research Programme and sign up for our free webinars on homelessness research and innovative practice.

Resources

Homelessness and rough sleeping

Government (and arm's length bodies) publications

NICE guidelines

Self-neglect and safeguarding

Resistance to change

Mental capacity and executive functioning

Neurodiversity

Strength-based reflective practice

No recourse to public funds

 

Project status: Ongoing