About us
Shelter Scotland exists to defend the right to a safe home and fight the devesting impact the housing emergency has on people and society. We believe that home is everything.
When we think of homelessness, we often think of the person on the street. Tragically, this is only the tip of the iceberg. In fact, most homeless people are hidden from sight, with whole families often forced to endure appalling conditions in temporary accommodation, sometimes living in just one room. Meanwhile, millions more are struggling with unaffordable rents and raising their families in housing that’s not fit for human habitation.
These conditions have a devastating impact on people’s daily lives and children’s life chances. Whether finding the space and peace to do homework, cooking meals and washing in shared facilities, or the stress placed on relationships, homelessness is traumatic.
Before the pandemic thousands of families were living like this up and down the country. Millions more were at risk of losing their homes and many were locked out of the system because of discrimination, whether because they receive benefits or because of the colour of their skin.
Home is a fundamental right, but the pandemic has left people more vulnerable than ever. The housing emergency now affects 1 in 3 of us and the threat of homelessness is very real.
We need to get support to these people before their problems escalate. Shelter’s work is more urgent than ever.
To meet this need, we need to think differently. That’s why we’re fixing our focus beyond the people who come to our services for help and tackling the systemic problems that lead our neighbours and colleagues to fall into trouble in the first place.
Together, we can defend the right to a safe home.
For every family crammed into a tiny bedsit. For every child growing up in a home rife with toxic mould. For every stressed-out renter, sofa-surfer and evicted pensioner. And for every single person being failed by a broken system. We need your support.
By joining our movement, the money you raise you could help fund our community advice, local support and outreach services, and our online resources that exist to defend that right. Your gift could help people get the tools to stand up to councils, landlords or anyone treating them unfairly. And by making sure we are always in their corner, you could give someone the confidence to protect themselves, their homes, and their families, for good.
£15 could fund someone’s first step to a home
A donation of £15 could fund a webchat for someone facing homelessness.
When people are struggling and need advice, webchats are an easy way for them to get in touch with us. They’re often someone’s first step to finding a permanent home. Donations like this make it all possible.
£25 could provide someone who’ll listen
A donation of £25 could fund a face-to-face chat with an adviser.
We have Shelter Hubs all across the UK and we set them up to make sure people in difficulty don’t struggle on their own. We help parents who don’t want to raise their kids in temporary accommodation, older people who can’t cover the rent with their state pension, and people who are sofa-surfing. Your support will make the work we do possible.