Aberdeen, together, we are home.
What does home mean for people who have experienced homelessness?
Since February 2026, Grampian Regional Equality Council (GREC) has been facilitating the Homewards Aberdeen Experts Through Experience Panel, supporting a space where people with lived experience of homelessness can come together to share perspectives, learn from one another and contribute to conversations about preventing homelessness.
As we prepared for the Homewards Aberdeen year three celebration, one question continued to emerge throughout the panel’s conversations:
What does home mean for people who have experienced homelessness?
Although panel members come from different countries, cultures and lived experiences, they discovered a shared truth:
“Home is far more than a physical place. Home is found in the people who listen without judgement, in the communities that welcome us, and in those who choose to walk alongside us when life becomes difficult.”
- Homewards Aberdeen Experts Through Experience Panel
At the Homewards Aberdeen celebration, the panel shared this message through a Spoken Word musical performance in the many languages that reflect who we are as Aberdeen: a city shaped by many cultures, experiences and voices. Their collective contribution reminded us that preventing homelessness is not only about providing housing. It is also about creating connection, hope, dignity and a genuine sense of belonging.
Throughout the panel’s conversations, one message emerged consistently: meaningful progress often begins with listening, not listening to respond, but listening to understand. When people with lived experience are recognised as partners in learning, their knowledge can sit alongside professional expertise, contributing to better conversations, stronger relationships and more informed decisions.
The panel also brings together perspectives that are too often overlooked within current systems, including the experiences of people with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). Yet these are people who live, work, volunteer, raise families and contribute to life in Aberdeen. Their experiences remind us that everyone living in our city should be able to engage with services that recognise their circumstances and respond with dignity and respect.
By creating spaces for honest dialogue, shared reflection and collective problem-solving, the panel is beginning to move beyond simply sharing experiences. It aims to bring together individuals, communities, support services and local decision-makers to learn from one another and better understand how homelessness is experienced in practice. While this work is still developing, it is helping to build relationships, encourage shared understanding and lay the foundations for more collaborative responses over time.
This approach was reflected in the interactive Socialudo experience, led by trained panel members, which invited participants to imaginatively step into the systems people at risk of homelessness often must navigate, from housing and benefits to employment and support services. Through play, conversation and reflection, the game encouraged participants to explore these systems together, building a shared understanding of both the progress that can be made and the challenges that remain.
At GREC, we are proud to facilitate this work and grateful to everyone who joined us, including HRH Prince William, whose visit recognised the progress being made across Aberdeen through partnership, collaboration and the contribution of people with lived experience.
Aberdeen, together, we are home.
