‍2020 has presented challenges none of us had foreseen. Now more than ever, it's important that we create a space to share ideas.

When we set about putting together a programme for our first Impact Festival we had a few goals in mind. 

We wanted to create a genuinely useful environment for people to meet, collaborate and learn. We understand the sector is in a place that we’ve never been in before, and people need a creative space to innovate and consider evidence and data.

We wanted to foster ideas from inside and outside the sector, to share best practice and celebrate exactly what we have managed to do in one of the most transformative events of our lifetime. At the Centre for Homelessness Impact, we know that COVID-19 has made our mission even more urgent. We want to help the homelessness sector to take stock, and use the crisis as an opportunity to reboot the entire homelessness system and revolutionise it for the better.

The festival takes on board lessons we’ve learned since lockdown. It’s bitesize, it’s flexible. People can commit as little or as much time as they’d like, and all the sessions will be recorded so you can fit them into your schedule in a way that suits you. There’ll be no barrier to entry, every session is free. It’s important that the knowledge about what works and doesn’t can be shared with whomever needs it. 

Running from the 13 July to the 14 August, our Impact Festival will be a mixture of live events, international, national and local conversations. They will be inquiry based, looking at what is happening in homelessness and related fields at the moment, and what needs to happen next to ensure we build better systems.

We’ve collaborated with inspirational organisations around the world to bring together a programme which truly has something for everyone who is involved with, or interested in bringing about an end to homelessness. Confirmed speakers include:
 

• Geoff Mulgan CBE - Professor of Collective Intelligence, Public Policy and Social Innovation at University College London (UCL)
• Julia Unwin DBE - CEO at Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust 2007-2016
• John Kay CBE, FRSE, FBA, FAcSS - leading economist
• Sir Michael Marmot FBA, FMedSci, FRCP - University College London
• Tendayi Viki - author and corporate innovation expert 
• Julie James - Welsh Minister for Housing and Local Government 

We’re delighted to have many of our partners and collaborators showcasing their work, such as Harvard Kennedy School, J-Pal, Bloomberg Associates, and the Institute for Global Homelessness. Crucially, lived experience will be at the forefront of the festival and you will have ample opportunity to hear insights and testimonies from a range of people who have experienced homelessness.

You can find more information about our sessions and speakers in our dedicated festival area. We hope you join our community - the better questions we ask, the richer we are. 

See the programme here.