Episode Description

To be homeless is more than not having a roof over your head.  It is also about a denial of being, a person out of place to look away from, to ignore and not make eye contact with them as you pass busily through Glasgow's Central Station. 

The numbers of people living precariously in the city is increasing (a recent article in the Glasgow Herald says they have doubled recently).  This is a story of a deep crisis not only in housing, but it also reveals the symbiotic relationship between social inequalities,  homelessness, violence, and the drug economy

And it’s a story that many people and organisations are trying to rewrite. One of them is Glasgow City Council who has been putting up Rough Sleepers and Vulnerable People or RSVPs in a number of city centre hotels for a few years now. For an overstretched local authority struggling to meet demand, this has been a controversial and troubled solution to a very complicated issue. 

Another organisation working in this field is Simon Community Scotland; a charity providing information, advice, care, support and accommodation to people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. 

The Simon Community has a wealth of expertise and lived experience within its teams of staff and volunteers, one of them is Jim Thomson, who - at the time of our interview - was the coordinator of We See You, a project run from the Simon Community’s access hub in the city centre.

Jim and the Simon Community partnered with my colleagues Susan Batchelor and Caitlin Gormley as part of a major research project on Repeat Violence in Scotland. 

It’s a piece of work that is urgently important so Les met up with Susan, a senior lecturer in sociology and Cailtin, a lecturer in criminology - who are both based in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and Jim to learn more. 

Thank you to Jim Thomson  and The Simon Community Scotland for hosting this recording

You can read the report on repeat violence in Scotland here

Recovering Community is presented by Les Back and produced by Freya Hellier.

First published: 8 July 2024

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