SHELTER Scotland has just marked 40 years serving people who are in need, 40 years of campaigning to secure better housing.
Back in 1968, Scotland looked very different. Cathy Come Home, a powerful new docudrama had been broadcast on the BBC. The whole country was shocked by the story of a young couple with small children struggling to get a roof over their heads. More i
mportantly people knew there were far more people like Cathy in the real world.
In Scotland, the shock and disbelief that this could be happening, the anger that families could be disregarded by the so-called welfare state in such a way was built into a consensus that something had to be done, and it was for that reason that Shelter Scotland was formed.
Back then the immediate focus of Shelter Scotland was the appalling legacy of slum homes in the towns and cities, where poor health and overcrowding were rife. As one measure Shelter helped to form several housing associations to work in these areas.
In 1971 Shelter opened its first housing aid centre in Scotland, giving direct help to people on a one-to-one basis. This service has gone from strength to strength, with three housing aid centres now running, as well as other specialist advice projects.
Following years of relentless campaigning, in 1977, the Homeless Persons Act was passed in England and Wales. Although watered down, the Act nevertheless proved a landmark in the fight against homelessness. In Scotland the legislation took another six months to go live, as some local authorities and politicians sought to halt it. They said that homelessness was not our problem. If you were homeless, it was your fault. Despite this opposition the Act was eventually implemented in Scotland and the decision to have a distinctive Scottish presence for Shelter was justified.
By the 1980s the campaigning climate had grown more difficult. A radical Conservative Government set out to reverse some of the assumptions about the role of the state in the provision of homes. The Right to Buy policy was introduced, resulting in around half a million homes being sold over 25 years, dramatically reducing the supply of quality rented accommodation in the public sector. Councillor Paul Edie and others from Edinburgh City Council have raised the issue of a need for more affordable rented accommodation in the Capital on a number of occasions.
In the 1990s we successfully made the case for the Rough Sleepers' Initiative in Scotland, a programme which invested £40 million to combat the then rising tide of street homelessness.
Another success for Shelter Scotland has been our Families Projects, providing intensive support to homeless families with children as they move from homelessness into a stable home. This service has expanded, with four projects across Scotland helping hundreds of families. In Edinburgh our longest-running project has worked with 415 families including 810 children during its ten years in existence.
Our award-winning website provides valuable advice and information on housing and homelessness to thousands of people across Scotland.
In the new millennium, and directly following Shelter's recommendations, we now have a legal commitment from across the political spectrum to give all homeless people the right to a home by 2012. This commitment is envied by progressive governments across the developed world. But I believe the challenge is to turn that target into a reality and ensure people not only have the right to a home, but the keys to one as well.
In the last year across Scotland there were more than 40,000 people assessed as homeless, and increasing numbers of people living in temporary accommodation. In Edinburgh alone over 4900 households were homeless last year, with an increase of households in temporary accommodation to almost 700 – a snapshot figure on March 31, 2008.
Being stuck in temporary accommodation while waiting for a permanent home is destructive to people's lives, depriving them of the opportunity to put down roots in the community, and leaving them with no sense of somewhere safe and secure to live.
Then of course there are the dramatic events in our financial markets over the past months. Scotland's housing crisis existed before the credit crunch. But the credit crunch means that it is going to get worse before it gets better.
We are already being contacted by hard-pressed families who are worried they may soon lose their home.
Set against our current stark reality there is now a growing consensus across all the major agencies that we must and can tackle the housing crisis together.
A decent home for everyone makes sense not just as an issue of social justice. It makes sense for employers, it makes sense for neighbourhoods and it makes sense for communities. In my view we have progressed a great deal in 40 years but many challenges still remain. If we are to be a confident, civilised society – a modern Scotland – we need to take action now. Not at some distant point in the future but now and for this generation.
Whatever your walk of life you can do something to help. We still have work to do. Together, I believe, we can achieve a vision, which we can all be proud of – ensuring we meet Scotland's highly acclaimed homelessness target by 2012.
To join Shelter in its fight, go to www.shelter.org.uk to get more information.
• Graeme Brown, is director of Shelter Scotland 