OSW has supported thousands of individuals to improve their employability and move into jobs, education, training and volunteering. But we also know that many homeless people face an array of barriers, either personal or structural, that can make this process very difficult.

The OSW research programme has been set up to examine the barriers, but more importantly the solutions to how homeless people can be better enabled to make the transition into independence. Out of our research comes policy work but also practical responses such as the development of the Transitional Spaces Project.

We want our research and policy work to influence policy makers, service providers and homeless people, so that individuals can chart a clear, co-ordinated, supported route out of homelessness towards independence.