Introduction by Gareth Young (CaCHE), blog by Isra Sulevani 

In this blog, we are delighted to welcome Isra Sulevani to share her own experiences of being involved in a recent research project Living with Housing Insecurity. The project was led by Dr Hannah Fairbrother (Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Sheffield) and funded by the NIHR School for Public Health Research.  

Isra was part of the critical friends’ group, led by Dr. Kiya Hurley (Senior Research Fellow), University of Birmingham) as part of the project’s commitment to public involvement and engagement. 

I was privileged to chair the project’s advisory group, of which Isra was part, and her significant contributions were welcomed by the whole group. Sharing such important insights gave the work heart and soul and added richness to its already robust approach through its collaborative endeavours. Through this engagement, Isra began writing a blog series for CaCHE. After reading the blogs, the CaCHE team felt this story needed a wider platform, and through engagement with colleagues at Crisis, Isra’s story has now been featured in The Guardian. 

This blog, in Isra’s own words, reflects on this experience, and the importance of engagement, but also serves as a reminder to all of us conducting research about how careful we need to be when asking people to share their stories. Whilst we know that understanding lived experiences is critical to identifying where policy and practice needs to be addressed, at the heart of this are people – and we have an enormous responsibility to make sure we tell these stories appropriately.  

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At some point last year, deciding to work with CaCHE on some reflective blogs from my involvement with the SPHR project led me to being on adverts in Westminster, have my opinion piece published in the Guardian – I even got to hand in an open letter with Crisis outside 10 Downing Street with 20,000 signatures! That’s the weight of twenty thousand people sitting in a letter in my hands.  

A lot has happened since then, with a lot of noise being made about housing insecurity and the government’s role in looking to ensure young people don’t live in unsafe conditions, constantly on the move, placed in temporary accommodation that really isn’t ‘temporary’.   

A couple of things before I share my experience- mostly because I hate acronyms- but CaCHE stands for the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence and SPHR for the School for Public Health Research. They’re not just about collecting evidence to initiate change and highlight key issues to policy makers- but they work with people like me. Proof that they actively care to listen to real-life stories and real-life evidence – and I can confidently say that they do a good job.  

Engaging with research 

What drew me to working with the research team was that it was genuinely the first time I’d heard that people were working on projects related to housing insecurity and homelessness. Growing up, moving around so much, not really getting to know anyone for long enough to form a strong enough connection, made me feel like no one actually cared for people like me and my family. I wanted to see what the research team  were doing to help.  

Before this project, I’d work with different groups and advised on research, but I’ll be honest, I’ve never felt as safe and open to share my experiences as I have with the team here. Kiya’s done a fantastic job- it’s the first time I’ve felt properly looked after as a young person on an advisory group. Before every large meeting, she meets up with us, briefs us about what to expect and encourages us to share our opinions. If we want to, we can also debrief with her.  

Without Kiya looking out for us and giving us opportunities to work with other groups in collaboration with CaCHE and SPHR, none of the work I did with Crisis would’ve been possible.  

Crisis Summit 2025 

At the Crisis Summit 2025 in Westminster, giving my speech on what it was like growing up experiencing housing insecurity was scary. But the overwhelmingly positive response I got from the people at the conference made me realise that people do care and do want to help.  

Sometimes it can feel a little bit scary to share. People I work with now know about my experiences too, and it can feel a bit odd to think that they probably know more about me than I ever will about them.  

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of the funniest people I know- Ray, for one, another lived experience campaigner working with Crisis. Whilst our lived experiences are different, it was refreshing to be able to joke around and smile about topics other people usually don’t know how to react to. When someone finds out you’ve experienced homelessness in whatever shape or size that ugly beast comes in, they kind of freeze up and act weird and because of that you kind of freeze up and act weird…maybe even weirder, who knows. 

Working with CaCHE, SPHR and Crisis has made me appreciate that I’m in an extremely lucky position to be able to share my experiences, working with teams who genuinely care and look out for me. I’ve always liked stories- telling them or writing them. But what’s absolutely insane to me, is that through words and through letting someone see the can of worms the other side of the street is living through can literally change policy. Politicians are in their own little siloes- the same type my family lived in for years. My story is somehow reaching them through the hard work of people working on research and campaigns.  

Aside from sharing my own story, seeing the project’s research outputs showed me that my story isn’t unique… As depressing as that sounds… Reading the stories of other young people showed me how far we have left to go.  

I’m thankful for the experiences I’ve had as a result of all of this, and hope that in the future we can all make a difference. Whether that’s through sharing your story, working on research or changing policy. 

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It has been wonderful to hear Isra’s experience, and I know that the entire research team, and colleagues at Crisis have all valued the relationships we’ve all built up through this process. We wanted to share this story with you as a reminder of the importance of collaboration, and to further conversations about how we as a research community can, and should, engage with people who are the focus of our research – but to know how to do so respectfully and sensitively. 

If you would like to read more about the research, you can read all about the work here, including accessing the final reports and various resources developed throughout the project.