What is Homelessness Awareness Week?

Homelessness Awareness Week (HAW) is a week of social, educational and awareness raising events which aims to raise awareness of the reality of homelessness in Northern Ireland. HAW is facilitated by Homeless Connect, the representative body for the homelessness sector in Northern Ireland. Held annually, it seeks to challenge the stigma around homelessness and highlight the vital work of the homelessness sector here.

HAW is a truly grassroots event, with different organisations devising and delivering their own events to raise awareness of homelessness.

HAW 2024 is supported by the Community Foundation Northern Ireland through their NI Housing and Homelessness Fund. We at Homeless Connect are grateful for their support.

When is it?

HAW 2024 is taking place between Monday 2 to Sunday 8 December. A host of different events are being held by different organisations and groups right across this society.

The theme of HAW 2024 is ‘Time for Change’. The number of households with homelessness status on the social housing waiting list has reached unprecedented levels, with over 58,000 people from over 30,000 households now having this status. With over 5,100 children living in temporary accommodation and the number of households needing this support continuing to rise, we urgently need as a society to drive forward real and meaningful change. The social media hashtags are #HAW24 and #TimeforChange

What is planned for HAW 2024?

You can find the programme for Homelessness Awareness Week 2024 here.

If You can find out more about each of the individual events on our events page.

If I have questions, who do I contact?

Email us at admin@homelessconnect.org and we will come back to you.

We would love for you to get involved in the public events which will be held throughout the week. Be a part of bringing about the change we need to see.