What Works
Community

Building capacity within local areas by using evidence and data to achieve breakthrough results
The What Works Community provides unparalleled expertise, technical assistance, and peer connections to equip local authority leaders at all levels with the tools and techniques needed to tackle their toughest homelessness challenges.
Our vision is that, in every local area in the UK, leaders at all levels use data, evidence and systems that work to drive and improve the effectiveness of activities to end homelessness. They will ask the right questions, act promptly on helpful insights from good evidence while continually trying to improve practice, and strive to maximise positive outcomes for people experiencing homelessness within limited resources.

Our What Works Community is designed to help you do just that. We support varying levels of commitment – from remote digital activities, to flexible peer-led learning, to intensive expert-led sessions.

We welcome anyone who would like to use data and evidence better in their work to join our What Works Community.

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“I can’t wait to meet the other leaders and watch them go on the same transformational journey that our pilot team went on, which truly has the power to change how their organisations respond to homelessness and other complex issues.”

Alison Griffin, FORMER Chief Executive,
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
Upcoming sprints

This year, the What Works Community will offer leaders at all levels in housing and homelessness the opportunity to join fellow practitioners in three week-long ‘Accelerator’ Evidence and Skills Sprints, a series of workshops where we will work with you to to deep-dive on key skill and evidence areas. These are offered at no cost but do require a time commitment.

Here are the details of our upcoming sprints:

Join the waiting list

All our sprints are currently fully booked. Join our waiting list to register your interest and be the first to hear about our upcoming sprints.

Check out the brochures for our previous sprints:

Data 101

From Prison to Pavements

Homelessness and Substance Abuse.

Find out more
Register your interest
impact forum
What Works Community Evidence Champions

Our Evidence Champions work closely with us to make sure we work more effectively with Local Authorities. They champion evidence-led approaches in their practice.

Programme participants to date

Pembrokeshire

Rochdale

Royal Borough of Greenwich

Scarborough

Somerset

Southend-on-Sea

Southwark

Wychavon and Malvern Hills

West Mindlands Combined

Edinburgh City

Essex

Great Manchester Combined

Highland

Isle of Wight

London Councils

Manchester City

Monmouthshire

Newcastle

Aberdeen City

Birmingham

Bournemouth

Bradford

Cambridge City and County

Carmarthenshire

Christchurch and Poole

City of Kingston upon Hull

East Ayrshire



Open Community resources

Access our data tools to find the evidence you need to make a greater impact in your work to end homelessness. Find out how to use and access our four tools below.

Browse our Evidence Notes to get at-a-glance summaries of the latest research into various aspects of homelessness. Designed for leaders at all levels, our Evidence Notes are concise, placing high-quality research in a highly digestible way.

Data and evidence tools

Our Evidence Tools for homelessness put evidence at people's fingertips, making the available evidence easier to use and highlighting where more and better evidence is needed. Our tools show what the evidence says about homelessness interventions and help you make smarter decisions about how to best serve those experiencing homelessness in the future.

How to use our tools
Evidence Notes

Gain insights into the latest research on the following topics at a glance:

Drugs and alcohol - Get an overview of the evidence on the relationship between homelessness and substance and alcohol use.
Homelessness Prevention - View the evidence on the success of interventions for preventing homelessness
Welfare and Single Homelessness - Explore key trends about homelessness and how it relates to changes in benefit entitlements.
Immigration - Gain insight into the evidence around the relationship between homelessness and immigration status.
Employment - Look at the evidence around the relationship between homelessness and employment.
Mental Health - Explore the evidence around the relationship between homelessness and mental health.
Institutional Discharge - An overview of the evidence for interventions designed for individuals being discharged from institutional settings.

Browse our publications
Image displaying the evidence notes in a pile along with two  open evidence notes displaying charts and content
Latest news from the What Works Community
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