High praise for our housing support service

The quality of care and support we provide has been highly commended by the Care Inspectorate – the independent scrutiny and improvement body for care and children's services.

Our Housing Support Services, which provides a range of national housing support functions to those with complex needs, has been commended for its high quality support to individuals and families who are homeless, whose home is at risk or whose home is not adequate for their needs.

Of the six areas assessed, five received a top 'grade 6 – excellent' and one was graded as '5 – very good'.

At any given time the service works with several hundred households across Scotland to assist them with their housing problems.

Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter Scotland, said:

"We're here so no one has to face bad housing and homelessness on their own. We thank the Care Inspectorate for their praise of our housing support service and are delighted that not only the quality of support was recognised, but the passion and dedication of our staff and volunteers.

"Our work would not be possible without support from funders and other stakeholders who support us.

"We believe that everyone should be able to live in a decent and secure home that they can afford. We'll continue to offer and improve our housing support services for the families and individuals who need them until there's a home for everyone."

Support is provided by staff teams located in Glasgow, South Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Dundee. We also recently opened support services in Edinburgh and Paisley.

During the assessment of the service, inspectors consulted service users about the support they had received. One service user commented:

"The service I receive and have received is probably without doubt the best professional service I have been given since falling on hard times. It was partly the reason for my recovery and I see my Shelter Scotland support worker as nothing short of my Guardian Angel. Sounds almost too unbelievable to read, well you must believe it. I can find no wrong with this organisation."

Of the service users consulted during the inspection:

• 90% 'strongly agreed' that they are happy with the quality of the support

• 80% 'strongly agreed' their needs and preferences were detailed in their support plan

• 86% 'strongly agreed' that the service regularly checked their needs were being met

• 90% 'strongly agreed' they were happy with the service received