In response to the housing crisis, we continue to deliver housing rights courses to frontline organisations across England. Our work has included multi‑year flagship programmes for organisations supporting private renters and homeless people in London, funded by Trust for London. Between 2017 and the end of 2025, we trained nearly 1,800 staff and volunteers from 700 organisations in London alone, reaching at least 180,000 people indirectly.

Our housing rights courses include training on homelessness assistance, temporary accommodation, social housing and private rented sector accommodation, and skills-based workshops to support participants in putting their knowledge into practice. We deliver tailored courses for organisations supporting people who disproportionately face the sharp end of the housing crisis, including Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, refugees, women, disabled people and care‑experienced young people.

"I loved that the session was focused on upskilling us all on always applying the legal grounds to our advocacy. We need more courses like this one as it is near impossible to get solicitors help."

After delivering training for trusted intermediaries in London, Advicenow expanded its offer to other regions. We developed a programme for trusted intermediaries working with vulnerable women at risk of housing and homelessness in the North West and South West of England. The training consisted of three online modules, supported by additional materials on the Advicenow website.

Between February and March 2021 the programme trained staff and volunteers from 44 frontline organisations, including NHS social prescribers, NHS link workers, women’s shelter staff, food bank volunteers, and drug and alcohol support workers. Evaluation of the programme showed positive improvements across all aspects of legal capability. Based on participant feedback, an estimated 5,256 women received support from the 49 course participants.

“What we have learnt from the course will be invaluable in my role as a social prescriber. Since October 2021, I have supported three homeless people and three people wishing to move due to different circumstances.”

In 2020 we delivered a housing rights course for women living in refuge accommodation and for the support workers alongside them, working in partnership with Surviving Economic Abuse and Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse. Funded by the Winston Churchill Trust, the course helped survivors build the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to navigate the housing system - from homelessness support to understanding tenancies and temporary accommodation.

"I really liked the session, it was really helpful. Now I know my rights as a homeless [person] who [is] looking for a house."

In 2025 we worked with Streets Kitchen to deliver a series of practical training workshops for their volunteers. Streets Kitchen is a London‑based grassroots organisation that supports people experiencing homelessness, offering daily outreach with food, essential supplies and information. The sessions covered key areas such as benefits, homelessness applications and vulnerability assessments, helping volunteers feel more confident in supporting people safely and effectively. This work was funded by the AB Charitable Trust.

    
"I found the workshops to be so clear and empowering."

"Collaborating with Advicenow on Homeless application training has been a joyful and empowering experience for Streets Kitchen Legal. It enabled us to build a taskforce of volunteers and people with lived experience to collectively challenge a broken system. We look forward to continuing and deepening this collaboration."

Housing rights for refugees 

In 2025, in response to the escalating refugee homelessness crisis, we delivered housing rights courses for staff and volunteers from frontline organisations across England, funded by The Disrupt Foundation. The training helped participants build the knowledge and skills needed to support refugees facing homelessness and living in temporary accommodation, including understanding their rights and navigating key housing processes.

"Grateful that you provided this important training for free which is why we were able to access it. So immediately applicable to our work, incredibly clear and well presented."

Local authority support for migrants with NRPF 

In 2025 we delivered workshops, in partnership with Project 17 and the Care Rights Project, for staff and volunteers from frontline organisations across England, focusing on the support available to families and individuals with a No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition. 

The sessions covered an overview of the NRPF condition, support for destitute families under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, support for adults with care needs under the Care Act 2014, and entitlements for pregnant people with no other children. Participants also learned how to make effective referrals to local authorities and overcome common barriers to accessing support. This work was funded by the AB Charitable Trust and Disrupt Foundation. 

"A most excellent workshop, knowledgeable and empathic delivery, offering practical approaches to the iniquitous NRPF situations of those subject to its punitive realities."

Housing rights for migrant women in the North West 

In 2024 the housing rights training programme for migrant women in North West England focused mainly on legal empowerment of the grassroot/community organisations supporting migrant women in this region. Whilst many of the groups were based in Liverpool and Manchester we specifically reached out to organisations operating in more suburban and rural areas of the North West. This work was funded by Disrupt Foundation. 

"I have used the information [from your training] 3 times today to assist advisers on our front line."

Housing and homelessness workshops for a grassroots group Women with Hope

Women with Hope is a grassroots charity in the West Midlands made up of women with lived experience of the asylum and immigration systems. In 2021 we delivered a free, community-based training course for their members around housing, homelessness and temporary accommodation, funded by the Bar Standards Board. This gave the women a voice to express their own legal needs and experiences with regard to housing rights, and to be able to address those issues themselves, increasing their agency and power.

"It was an excellent session and clearly much appreciated. Thank you."

Housing rights programme for refugees in the North of England

In 2020, in partnership with the Refugee Council (Leeds), we delivered a housing rights programme to people from refugee communities and frontline service organisations in the North of England, covering benefits and housing, eviction and disrepair. Around 40% of participants were refugees themselves. This course was funded by the Matrix Causes Fund. 

"Good to have lots of time to ask questions and discuss. The scenarios were good and felt like an appropriate level - reasonably complicated but not too tricky."

Between September 2024 and September 2025 we delivered housing rights courses to 58 frontline organisations supporting young care leavers to access housing. These included workshops on housing options for care-experienced young people, including local authority duties, benefits, temporary accommodation, and applying for social housing. Over a period of 12 months the programme indirectly reached nearly 7,000 young care leavers. This work was funded by Britford Bridge Trust.

"Brilliant way to run course, enlightening and felt at ease. Ability to request questions and obtain clarification, accessible information, presenters made you feel at ease and included. Treated everyone equally and with the course format with people learning with different formats, reading, writing, watching, and orally - got all avenues covered. Brilliant way to learn. I would thoroughly recommend it and thanks to all the presenters who were brilliant."

In 2024 we ran two housing rights courses for organisations supporting disabled people in London, covering topics such as understanding tenancies, dealing with disrepair and navigating Section 21 evictions. This work formed part of our multi‑year housing rights programme funded by Trust for London.

"The course was presented clearly despite the points of law. I am not a specialist but I have been equipped to provide information, advice and guidance."

In 2022 we worked with the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) to deliver training on homelessness and temporary accommodation for staff and volunteers from frontline organisations across London. Funded by Trust for London, the programme was complemented by PILC’s strategic litigation training, which helped community organisations understand and use legal mechanisms to support access to justice. The partnership allowed us to combine our strengths and offer a more holistic approach to legal education for the community. PILC also took on two cases that were raised by participants during the course.

"I just want to say a massive thank you to you all, in one of the sessions everything I learnt was 100% new. When it comes to homelessness rights, I considered my knowledge to be quite advanced, but I was really surprised how much I learnt. This shows how the content of your training cannot be easily found elsewhere."

We organise strategic events to influence change through legal or policy mechanisms. These have included workshops on:

• Using judicial reviews to counter unlawful practices by Local Authorities, in partnership with Deighton Pierce Glynn Solicitors and Public Law Project in 2020.
• Health, homelessness and vulnerability, in partnership with One Pump Court and Islington Council in 2020.
• Starting a tenancy in a hostile environment, in partnership with the Refugee Council, University of York and Leigh Deigh. This event contributed to the creation of a Refugee Tenancy Deposit Scheme in 2023.
• Domestic Abuse Act and its implications on homelessness applications, in partnership with the Public Interest Law Centre in 2024.
• Complaint champions workshops: using the Ombudsman services to increase access to justice, in collaboration with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in 2025.

We carried out extensive work to support Roma families and their advocates in navigating child protection, while also helping child protection staff develop a stronger understanding of Roma communities. We are very proud of the impact this work has achieved. You can read more in the findings of the independent evaluation of the project. This work was funded by the Tudor Trust.

Child protection training for Roma advocates

From 2018 to 2024 we delivered training on the legal framework of child protection for Roma advocates, in partnership with the Roma Support Group. This improved participants' understanding of how the UK child protection system works, common issues when children's services engage with Roma families, and concrete steps Roma advocates can take to help.
 

"I have never been to training where the process of child protection was put over so well, I knew a lot of the information in parts, but I found it really helpful to see the overview. Thank you."

Roma cultural awareness workshop for foster parents in Sheffield

In 2024 we delivered Roma culture awareness training for foster parents looking after Roma children in Sheffield. This included Roma cultural awareness and the crucial role of foster carers in safeguarding cultural identity for Roma children in foster care.

"This was such helpful training - I have never attended training like this before. It will help with my day to day practice when working with Roma families."

Roma cultural awareness workshops for social workers 

From 2023 to 2025, in partnership with the Roma Support Group, we delivered Roma cultural awareness workshops for social workers and other safeguarding professionals. The workshops were organised by the London Children’s Safeguarding Partnership, Research in Practice and Sheffield City Council. They strengthened understanding of Roma culture and the challenges faced by Roma communities, and contributed to improved social work practice.

"This training has been amazing. I have been on other Roma training, but this has been the most informative. The presentation from both of you was clear, interesting and I have learnt so much, which will most definitely enhance and inform the way I engage with Roma families."

"I found this statement at the end of the training very pertinent and I will take this back to my team: "Every Roma family should be approached in a trauma informed way". A really excellent, knowledgeable and accessible group of facilitators, thank you so much."

In partnership with Hibiscus Initiatives (in 2018) and St Mary’s University’s Horizon Summer School (in 2025), we delivered legal empowerment programmes for women from migrant communities with experience of the criminal justice system. The sessions helped participants build a stronger understanding of the law and how it affects their lives, the differences between criminal and civil law, common issues people face when attending court for debt matters, and practical frameworks for legal problem‑solving. Participants told us that the most useful aspects of the course were:

"To stand up for myself and know my rights"

"To be confident about myself and prepare myself before the court"