News

Thank you to everyone who attended our fringe event at the Liberal Democrats Autumn Party Conference on Sunday 21st September, and to Cllr Darren Sanders, Lee Dillon MP and Andrew George MP for speaking.

After an emotional game of bingo, the panel shared best practice around supporting homeless families living in temporary accommodation. There was a positive discussion of how the Liberal Democrats can improve the lives of all children in temporary accommodation locally, regionally, and nationally.

“A planning society, that is fuelled by greed rather than need, you’re going to inevitably end up with consequences [such as] the housing needs of people getting worse.” – Andrew George MP.

“Dr Laura Neilson said when she gave evidence to our Select Committee – it’s never the child’s decision to go into TA. While we’re talking about the economic levers that we can pull in building houses, it’s the voice of the child that we really need to remember.” – Lee Dillon MP.

“We want to get there because we know changing lives matters, and we owe it to the families and the children.” – Cllr Darren Sanders.

The implications of Temporary Accommodation on children’s lives are far-reaching, with negative impacts on health and education, including an increased risk of child mortality. Our report, “Children Living in Temporary Accommodation: An Absolute Scandal”, exposes that living in Temporary Accommodation can violate thirteen articles of the United Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Shared Health Foundation is a clinically led non-profit organisation tackling the health inequalities caused by poverty.

Our hub, The Crib, is based in Oldham and supports families experiencing homelessness and disadvantage. Our team are experts in addressing barriers to universal services, specifically during the first 1001 days of life, and the impact social determinants of health have on children being preschool ready. We believe every child and family within the homeless journey has the right to thrive, and we work with families to reduce barriers, build confidence, and create lasting change.

We have an open position for a Senior Family Support Worker – Homeless Families (Early Years Focus) to join The Crib.

Location: Oldham (Hybrid – community, outreach, and office-based)
Salary: £26,000 – £28,000 per annum pro rata (dependent on experience)
Contract Type: Part-time, Fixed Term (with potential for extension)
Hours: 22.5 hours per week, Monday to Thursday (occasional evenings/weekends required)
Applications: Please send your current CV with a cover letter

The Role

We are looking for a Senior Family Support Worker to provide early years family support for homeless families across Oldham. This role combines direct family work whilst supporting the daily functions of The Crib, working alongside partners to improve health, wellbeing, and long-term outcomes for children.

You will:

• Build trusting, restorative relationships with families.
• Provide trauma-informed, strengths-based support that empowers families to set their own priorities specifically around health and education.
• Help families access maternity, health visiting, early years services, housing, education, and financial advice.
• Deliver both 1:1 and group support, encouraging parents to develop agency, confidence, and skills.
• Ensure referrals, casework, and safeguarding are managed effectively.
• Strengthen partnerships with local services so families can access universal and specialist support.

Person Specification

Essential

• Minimum of 5 years experience supporting vulnerable families or individuals, ideally in early years or homelessness settings.
• Understanding of the impact of health inequalities and deprivation on families.
• Commitment to relational, trauma-informed, strengths-based practice.
• Ability to manage a caseload and respond to safeguarding concerns.
• Strong communication and organisational skills.
• Confidence working with multiple agencies to improve outcomes for families.
• IT literacy and ability to maintain accurate case records.
• Full UK driving licence and access to a car with business insurance (essential for outreach).

Desirable

• Knowledge of women’s health, child development, and early years pathways.
• Community language skills (e.g. Urdu, Arabic, Polish, Farsi, Tigrinya).
• Relevant training such as Mental Health First Aid, Motivational Interviewing, or safeguarding (Level 2+).

What We Offer

• Salary £26,000–£28,000 per annum pro rata (depending on experience)
• Pension scheme and sick pay
• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays
• Regular supervision and wellbeing support
• Training and professional development opportunities
• Free on-site parking (where available)

Job Types: Part-time, Fixed term contract

Benefits:

• Company pension
• On-site parking
• Sick pay

Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 17/10/2025

Shared Health Foundation is a clinically-led, evidence-based non-profit organisation that is passionate about reducing the impact that poverty has on health.

We have an open position for a Clinical Psychologist (Infant Parent) to join The Together Service team.

Job title: Clinical Psychologist (Infant Parent)
Payment: £43,742 WTE
Hours: 15 hours (2 days)
Department: The Together Service
Location: Newton Health, Manchester
Reports to: Principal Infant Parent Clinical Psychologist 

Job Purpose

To provide a primary-care based psychological service supporting families in the perinatal period.

Key Responsibilities:

• To build effective working relationships with the primary care team
• To offer training and consultation to healthcare staff and other professionals around perinatal mental health, infant development and trauma-informed care
• To identify and engage with particular groups/families/individuals where engagement with services may be low but need is high
• To build relationships with other organisations/communities in the local area to enhance engagement.  
• To carry out outreach work to homeless families in the perinatal period
• To set up and facilitate antenatal group sessions focussed on the social and emotional aspects of becoming a parent, baby development and infant-parent relationships
• To offer psychological assessment, formulation and intervention with families in the perinatal period. This may include one-to-one work, couple work, family work, broader systemic interventions as appropriate. 
• To offer flexible and appropriate therapeutic input including parental mental health work, infant-parent relationship work and work around baby loss (miscarriage/still birth/removal)
• To adhere to HCPC Practice Policy Guidelines
• To keep up-to-date records of all work in line with organisational policies and prepare reports/letters as required
• To engage with safeguarding support and work effectively within multi-disciplinary networks to protect the wellbeing of families
• To access regular supervision with the principal clinical psychologist
• To undertake service audit and service development tasks as appropriate
• To contribute a psychological perspective to the policy/campaign work of Shared Health
• To maintain CPD and keep up-to-date with mandatory training

Person Specification

Qualifications and Professional Registration

Essential Requirements:

• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
• Registration with HCPC as a Clinical Psychologist 

Desirable Requirements:

• Additional training/qualification in infant-parent interventions, couples work, family work and/or perinatal mental health work

Experience

Essential Requirements:

• Experience of using psychological assessment, formulation and interventions flexibly
• Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of inequality within local communities
• Experience of working with families
• Experience of multi-disciplinary working 

Desirable Requirements:

• Experience within a perinatal and/or infant-parent therapy service
• Experience offering teaching/consultation to non-psychologists
• Experience of carrying out audit or service evaluation projects. 

Knowledge / Skills/Abilities

Essential Requirements:

• Knowledge of relevant psychological theory (e.g. attachment theory) 
• Ability to work with more than one person in the therapy room
• Ability to critique psychological assessments/interventions and offer input honouring different cultural experiences
• Ability to communicate skilfully complex and sensitive information with families and colleagues 
• Ability to manage own diary and complete IT skills as required
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team,  
• Ability to manage emotionally stressful situations such as working with victims of abuse or trauma, and with people who engage in severe self-harming or aggressive behaviour
• Ability to use supervision effectively

Desirable Requirements

• Knowledge of specific infant-parent approaches e.g. VIG, Infant-parent psychotherapy, Circle of security, Watch, wait, wonder 
• Knowledge of compassion-focussed therapy and/or narrative approaches such as the Tree of Life

To discuss further please contact Jen Davies (Clinical Psychologist) on 07384 515059 or j.davies@nhs.net

To apply please provide CV and/or letter indicating how you meet the person specification.

Closing Date: 27/10/2025

Shared Health Foundation have released a report, titled ‘Children Living in Temporary Accommodation: An Absolute Scandal’, exposing thirteen violations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) caused to homeless children. 

The temporary accommodation crisis unfolding across the country is ensuring that increasing numbers of families are being placed in unsuitable accommodation that is likely to be out of their local authority area and away from support networks. As a result, the impacts to a child’s wellbeing are far-reaching, impacting every aspect of their life. This report highlights the realities of living in temporary accommodation for families, particularly in relation to the detrimental effects on children’s health and education. 

With the Government’s cross-departmental homelessness and child poverty strategies being formed, the 165,510 children trapped in the temporary accommodation crisis should be at the forefront of policymaker’s agendas. The cyclical nature of homelessness means these children are at an increased risk of experiencing it again as adults so it is vital that we take measures to prevent this. The Government’s strategy for ending homelessness starts with children.

Thank you to everyone who attended the parliamentary launch of our report. It was encouraging to see a room full of advocates passionate about ending child homelessness.

Shared Health Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation which is passionate about finding solutions so that the impact of poverty on health is reduced. We are absolutely committed to raising awareness and bringing change for the experience of families who are homeless. We have pioneered work to identify families and understand the situation at a local and national level through lived experience and research. Rates of children living in temporary accommodation, including hotels and B&Bs, are rising, and with this is the rising impact on their health and education outcomes. Shared Health has been advocating for change since 2018 and is proud to have been able to influence the conversation around homelessness in Greater Manchester, and nationally, through being co-secretariat of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Households in Temporary Accommodation. We are now bringing solutions forward and expanding our team to do so. 

We have three open positions:

Health and Education Policy and Campaigns Officer

Local Authorities Policy Officer

Administrator and Events Planner

For an informal discussion around any of the roles, please email sam.pratt@sharedhealth.org.uk

These new roles are supported by Impact on Urban Health.

Health and Education Policy and Campaigns Officer

Contract type: Fixed-term or permanent, full time with part time considered.

Location: Office based in Oldham, Greater Manchester with travel around the UK.

Start date: Spring 2025.

Salary: £28-30k depending on experience 

Application deadline: 02/05/2025

This new role specialises in the people and policies that can positively impact the health and education outcomes for children living in temporary accommodation (TA).

The successful candidate will have an interest in the health and education fields, and an understanding of how these outcomes can impact children. They will have a strong understanding of how to build supportive and effective relationships with professionals and also have an eye for detail in helping gather evidence, understand data, and make recommendations for change.

Main responsibilities:

• Formalise and facilitate an existing informal network of healthcare professionals interested in gathering evidence and supporting advocacy within their professional roles.
• Engage with the NHSE Health Inequalities team around the issues of TA for children.
• Support a pilot project to be held in hospitals to produce a data set for admissions and accident rates in TA.
• Increase visibility of Shared Health Foundation’s recommendations for change within professional bodies, including but not restricted to the Royal Colleges of Medicine, Public Health England, and the Institute of Health Visitors.
• Work with practitioners, researchers and data collectors for national policy influence for maternal and child health in TA.
• Work with the teams for the Children’s Minister and the Children’s Commissioner to address education concerns of children dropping out of school due to homelessness, including lobbying upcoming bills that should include specific support for children living in TA.
• Support already identified schools who are showing best practice and use their experience to spread learning across a wider network.
• Support civil servants at the Department of Education to produce guidance.

Local Authorities Policy Officer

Contract type: Fixed-term or permanent, full time with part time considered.

Location: Office based in Oldham, Greater Manchester with travel around the UK.

Start date: Spring 2025.

Salary: £28-30k depending on experience 

Application deadline: 02/05/2025

This new role specialises in supporting local authorities and combined authorities to improve standards of living for children in temporary accommodation (TA).

The successful candidate will have an interest in politics at a local and regional level. They will have a strong understanding of how to build supportive and effective relationships with professionals and also have an eye for detail in helping gather evidence, understand data, and make recommendations for change.

Main responsibilities:

• Build relationships with all Metro Mayors and Combined Authorities to influence, educate and where needed, lobby, for better outcomes for homeless families. Build on existing relationships with local authorities nationally.
• Build on existing relationships with GM Local Authorities to implement pilots of new policies, such as providing training sessions on the delivery of these policies.
• Research of new and existing statistics. FOIs, driving partnerships with academic researchers, and evidence and policy reviews. The information gathered will also be used to assist with the writing of publications on behalf of Shared Health.
• Assist in generating a national network of champions for homeless families made of practitioners and advocates for homeless families, using this platform as a way of amplifying the voice of homeless children locally and nationally.

Administrator and Events Planner

Contract type: 20 hours a week

Location: Oldham, Greater Manchester

Start date: Spring 2025.

Salary: £23-25k FTE

Application deadline: 30/05/2025

This new role will hold us all together by supporting the administration and the events planning elements of the work.

The successful candidate will be organised, good at problem solving, and be able to think ahead and foresee problems that can be avoided. They will be able to balance a workload that could involve several different priorities and be able to support the rest of the advocacy team.

Main responsibilities:

• Organise room bookings for events held by Shared Health Foundation, working with the Parliamentary team when necessary or finding cost-effective solutions for meetings and conferences across the country.
• Organise travel solutions for the rest of the team when required.
• Support the event planning for around 5-10 small to medium events a year, including venue management, advertising, booking catering, etc.
• Support the administration required behind holding All-Party Parliamentary meetings, including minute writing.
• Support the senior team in any other administrative duties.

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee has released their first report on children living in temporary accommodation.

One of the main recommendations from this report is the implementation of a formal notification system, as campaigned for by the APPG for Households in Temporary Accommodation. The report also details that better data on the impact of temporary accommodation on a child’s health and education is needed – especially from A&E attendances and GP referrals.

The Committee’s recommendations include:

1️⃣ Local authorities should carry out mandatory inspections of housing before it is used as temporary accommodation.

2️⃣ The Government should establish a formal notification system to alert children’s schools and GPs when families move in to temporary accommodation.

3️⃣ The Government should publish its strategy on ending homelessness by the end of July.

Please see below a statement from our CEO, Dr Laura Neilson.

Media coverage featuring the report

Thank you to everyone who attended our fringe event at the Liberal Democrats Spring Conference this weekend and to Josh Babarinde MP for speaking.

Liberal Democrats MPs in England represent over 13,000 homeless children. We look forward to working together to reduce the impact Temporary Accommodation has on their health and education.

Thank you to everyone who attended our Moving On Well Transition Workshop this year! It was a very positive and productive session of sharing experience and best practices on how to support Y6 and Y7 pupils as they make the transition from primary to secondary school.

The Moving On Well Transition Workshop is for any school staff working in primary or secondary with an involvement in Y6 to Y7 transition. This includes Y6 teachers and TAs, Y7 Heads of Year, Form tutors, Transition Leads, SENCOs and any key staff working within transition.

This workshop explores how to best support pupils through their transition to succeed emotionally, practically and academically and will include:

* Differences between primary and secondary school from the pupils perspective;
* Evidence based practice supporting emotional wellbeing;
* How to maximise an effective transition

Speakers:
Jo Hardwidge, Moving On Well Coordinator, Lifecentre Salford
Beth Myring, General Manager, Lifecentre Salford
Dr Charlotte Bagnall, Lecturer in Educational Psychology at Manchester University.

This workshop was a free event hosted by the Shared Health Foundation in partnership with Lifecentre Salford, as part of our wider strategy to improve mental health support for adolescents across Greater Manchester.

For more information on how to get involved in our work, get in touch.

“We’re taking action…the DPM will chair the cross governmental strategy to ending homelessness.” – Rushanara Ali MP, Minister for Building Safety and Homelessness.

Shared Health Foundation held a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference on the impact of temporary accommodation on children. Helena Dollimore MP, Rushanara Ali MP, Dr Laura Neilson and Cllr Bev Craig highlighted the issue and shared hope that things can and will change for the most vulnerable homeless families.