In England, over 80,000 families with children are living in temporary accommodation because they don’t have access to secure housing. Families can become homeless for many reasons, like money problems, unsafe homes, or having to
leave their country because of war.
Temporary accommodation (TA) is meant to be a short place to stay while waiting for a secure home. TA can be
hostels, hotels, B&Bs, or shared houses. While these places give families somewhere to live, they can also be difficult. Families may have to share kitchens or bathrooms, deal with damp or mould, or be moved far away from their friends and schools. Some places don’t let families have visitors, which can make them feel lonely.
Children need safe and steady homes to grow well, and poor TA can make this harder.
Because of these challenges, peer support groups can help families, including pregnant people, to feel less
alone. This project wanted to find out if families would like these groups and what they would want them to be like.
This document shares what we learned from talking with them.
This summary was made by Trainee Clinical Psychologists at Lancaster University working together with homeless families, Shared Health Foundation and the Together Service.
