Housing Education

East Lothian Council has been involved in the pioneering Housing Education Partnership (HEP) project to provide housing education in the county's schools since 2001.

The project, which won an award for innovation in 2001, is run in conjunction with:

• Bridges Project
• Haddington Citizens Advice Bureau
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Changeworks

Housing staff teach secondary pupils about homelessness and give advice about leaving home safely. In terms of the prevention and reduction of homelessness, the work of the project is an important part of East Lothian Council's Homelessness Strategy 2009 - 2014

HEP was established as a natural progression of the Leaving Home booklet and snapfax devised by pupils at Tranent's Ross High School. The publications were launched in June 2001 and won the 2001 Chartered Institute of Housing National Award for Social Housing. Pupils involved in the scheme receive a copy of the booklet or a snapfax to help them make informed decisions about their housing choices.  

Since HEP's inception, new materials continue to be developed. The aim is to simplify teaching materials for housing staff and provide a more entertaining and informative experience for pupils. Materials are delivered via PowerPoint presentation, and recent additions include video clips of interviews with homeless people.  

Articles and information sheets about HEP

This link will take you to a selection of documents about the work of the Partnership including:

• The lesson programme for 2010-11 (provisional)
• A leaflet explaining the work of the partnership in detail
• Various press reports, including (from the Times Educational Supplement Scotland) Putting a roof over their head

A copy of our Homelessness presentation is available via this link

Contacts

You can contact the partnership through the Strategy & Development team on 01620 827827 email hsd@eastlothian.gov.uk