Over the past five weeks, many hundreds of you joined us to hear from 159 different speakers across 53 events.

We’ve learnt about what we know works from the evidence and data, but also about what we know doesn’t work from the people who have actually lived it.

We’ve spoken to Government Ministers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, along with journalists, policy makers, academics, frontline workers, researchers, artists and actors, economists, religious leaders and most importantly those who have experienced homelessness first hand. 

We’ve been part of inspirational addresses, workshops, panel events, conversations, theatre productions and an art exhibition.

I asked the team here at CHI what their personal highlights were;

“It was really difficult picking just one highlight! But I really loved bringing together leaders from East Ayrshire, Pembrokeshire and Southend-On-Sea councils to launch the newest iteration of the What Works Community. Hearing the support they had for their teams work, reflections on the pilot itself, and plans to apply the methods and learning wider in their councils was really inspiring.” - Eilidh Morrissey, Communications and Programmes Specialist

 ‘‘It has to be diversity and range of voices that came together to help us aim high’’- Dr Lígia Teixeira, Chief Executive Officer 

‘’The innovation session for me: The most valuable insight for me from that session was that successful innovation is something that actually has impact, and until then it's just another idea. We have to get more comfortable with testing and learning before we land on something that works - stop chasing that one big idea! Tendayi articulated it perfectly when he said, 'Design like you're right and test like you're wrong'’. - Faye Greaves, Head of Policy, Practice and Development 

"I was both inspired and infuriated by what I learned in the excellent "Responding to women's homelessness during COVID-19" session chaired by Alison Inman. We as a society need to do more to protect women leaving prison, and women fleeing domestic abuse, to prevent them experiencing homelessness. The positive take away was that our panel, and people like them, are working hard to improve the system." - Jade Bradford,  Strategic Communications and Engagement Manager

“One of my highlights was- 'Love exists beyond walls: How to create a movement of doers'.  It was very inspiring to hear Terence tell his story of the adversity he faced and his experience with homelessness. His delivery contained such passion and drive, drawing on his own experience and highlighting the importance of compassion in a person-centred approach. It was very educational and thought-provoking to hear of some of the practical work of the organisation and left me thinking about how similar ideas could be translated and applied in the UK.” - Virginia Murray,  EA to CEO and Experiences Lead

“I loved this from the wellbeing session- Remi outlined a master plan for wellbeing in these difficult times in 6 specific recommendations: A clear working agreement on what is expected and fostering trust, minimise meetings or make them shorter, allow time out. Consider differences between people and needs (e.g. times that work for families/singles).Respect the needs of our colleagues and be flexible and compassion.” - Guillermo Rodríguez-Guzmán, Head of Evidence and Data

‘’For me it was the session “Reigniting your mojo at work” delivered by Sharath. He spoke about the concept of intrinsic (doing for personal reward) vs extrinsic (doing for earned reward) motivation at work - a topic I’d never heard about before. The most valuable insight was about how this has specific implications in the charity sector where intrinsic motivation is high but extrinsic can be lower. This resonated most with participants who were in frontline and operational roles supporting people experiencing homelessness. Striking the balance between the two is a key ingredient to avoiding burnout in these positions.’’ - Keir McCluskey,  Product and Implementation Lead

One of my personal highlights was hearing from the experts by experience in 21 of the sessions, but also hearing from the policy makers, academics and politicians about how much they value lived experiences and their commitment to include their voices at all levels of service design and delivery. 

My other highlight was both Anthony Luvera’s Exhibition, and being able to have a conversation with him about his work as part of our festival. His work really highlights the stark realities of homelessness, along with individual experiences, and the systems and services that shape people’s everyday lives.

With five weeks of incredible content it’s hard to pick out just a few take-home messages, but here goes;

• The homelessness sector cannot end homelessness on its own 
• One size does not fit all, listening to all voices is vital 
• Better use of evidence and data can help us accelerate progress and ensure any gains are long lasting.
  

Thank you all so much for joining us on this journey over the last five weeks. You can watch all of the recordings here

We really want to hear your thoughts. What was your favourite moment of the Impact Festival 2020? How did it make you feel? What could we have done differently?

Help us by completing this short, five-minute survey. 

Share your highlight on Twitter using #CHIFest2020