Porchlight: From temporary accommodation to supported living – helping do more to tackle homelessness

Project summary

Analysis and modelling of a service that reduces homelessness by moving people from temporary accommodation to supported accommodation, and then to permanent homes.

How will this project benefit the organisation?

Porchlight believes that their approach is more cost-effective for the local authority and is more effective in tackling homelessness, so being able to demonstrate this clearly to others, particularly local authorities who would need to make changes to adopt this approach, will be invaluable in enabling them to implement more widely. Moreover, this approach lends itself better to long-term rather than short-term funding, which can lead to significant improvements in efficiency and effectiveness.

Time commitment: The time commitment will be agreed between the volunteers and organization when completing the project proposal.

Timeframe: The project will launch in March and be completed as soon as possible.

Location: This work will be undertaken remotely.

Project description

Porchlight have developed a successful approach to helping people on the journey out of homelessness, moving vulnerable people out of unsupported temporary accommodation into supported accommodation from which they can more readily move into their own homes (with an average of 9 months spent in the supported accommodation). Their approach works well under contract with one local authority, and Porchlight are keen to extend it to others. However, the data from the scheme has not been systematically analysed.

The volunteer will:

• analyse the data from the project’s first two years of operation to assess its costs and benefits and report on activities, outputs and outcomes.
• design a simulation model of the process, to demonstrate how this approach could operate in different areas (e.g. with different numbers of calls on temporary accommodation, bed spaces etc).

Success will look like:

The volunteer will develop a set of materials aimed at local authorities demonstrating the costs, benefits and outcomes of commissioning this approach in their local area. Skills:

The volunteer should have experience of data analysis, of rapid simulation model development, and of presentation of the findings. Experience in the housing or homeless sector would be useful but is not essential.

How to apply:

If you feel you are able to offer your assistance please complete the application form and return along with your CV to [email protected] by Wednesday 25 February 2026.   

Find out more:

For further information about Porchlight, please visit their website at  Porchlight

Desired start date

TBC

Desired end date

TBC

About Pro Bono OR

For further information about Pro Bono OR, please visit or email [email protected]