Why 5,000 young people become homeless in Scotland every year
Finding ways to deal with family conflicts and prevent relationship breakdowns is key to tackling the problem of homelessness
As the red-headed mother of four boys aged 15 to 21 – and the only female in our six-strong household – you’d think I’d be used to managing it. After all, gallons of testosterone flow through our house on a weekly basis, leaving in their wake a midden of stinking football boots, single socks, and cake-smeared plates.
While I regularly wail that yet another of my computer cables has mysteriously vaporised, my cries are typically drowned out by number-one son’s music – and numbers two, three and four suddenly finding Extremely-Important-Things-To-Do to avoid a cavity search so I can use my laptop for a Zoom meeting.
Our family is lucky. Others find handling conflict difficult. Over a decade ago, I came across the Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution (SCCR) at an event I was hosting. Established in 2014 by parent charity Cyrenians, who aim “to tackle the causes and consequences of homelessness”, the SCCR’s mission is to target a key driver: family conflict.
Relationships can be hard
Relationship breakdown is responsible for around 5,000 young people in Scotland – the equivalent of five high schools of children – presenting as homeless each year. When a young person loses access to their home, they’re likely to lose access to education, employment and social support as well. All because – as a nation – we’re often better at conflict than we are at relationships.
I’ve spent over 30 years learning my trade as a professional communicator, building connections with interviewees and audiences through TV, radio, newspapers and lecture halls – and latterly as a qualified mediator and coach – so I know relationships can be hard.
Notoriously, the inboxes of family lawyers, counsellors and social housing providers fill up in January as families reckon with the festive season fallout. It’s why I welcome SCCR’s online campaign ‘New Year Regulation’ (see what they did there!) over Hogmanay, providing bite-sized tips to family members desperate for a calmer 2026.
My New Year wish is that we’d all been taught to handle relationships better. I wish we’d been taught how the brain responds differently to love and fear; how shared moments of safety can regulate a child’s heart rate; and how an expectant mother’s trauma can be encoded in the eggs of her unborn daughter while still in the womb, affecting three generations in just one family.
READ MORE: 'Humbling, crushing': How homelessness workers are being driven to brink by housing crisis
Keeping the band together
I’m now doing my best to learn all I can about conflict and the brain and to pay it forward to clients, students and my own kids. Last year, around this time, I used the SCCR’s (free!) digital resources with a well-known Scottish band: fabulous young people who can sell out leading venues but could no longer sit comfortably and be honest with each other.
We worked together over several days, having conversations they never thought possible, and they’re still together now, stronger than ever, to their fans’ delight.
In my work as an impact coach, I now use SCCR resources with a range of people, from school children to chief executives. Turns out you’re never too old to learn about yourself – and by focusing on connection, not conflict, we can build resilience both in ourselves, as well as in the generations to come.
Dr Vanessa Collingridge is a broadcaster, writer and impact coach. The SCCR’s free digital resources, training and events are available at www.scottishconflictresolution.org.uk
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