Simon Community Scotland provides safe spaces and support for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Our services include support hubs, residential accommodation, street teams and more. At the heart of all we do are personal, 121 relationships with the people we support, meeting people where they are at, and championing non-judgemental support and harm reduction.
We will have representatives from two national services at the VHS conference: the Gambling Harms team and the By My Side service.
Simon Community Scotland recognised that many of the people we support are affected by the harms of their own or someone else’s gambling. The Gambling Harms and Homelessness project began with the aim of improving how we address those harms and embedding gambling harms into our organisational culture.
We now work with other organisations and communities to raise awareness of gambling harms and equip people with the knowledge and tools to address them. We offer free training sessions and workshops for professionals, tailored to the needs of organisations and the people they support. We also have a strong community presence, running free workshops, community champion sessions and co-production groups across Scotland to help communities understand and address gambling harms.
Throughout our training and workshops, we challenge stigma and address intersectionality, particularly between gambling harms and housing insecurity. We also run drop-ins in a growing number of services, so people can access support and signposting.
Simon Community Scotland also recognised that although women gamble almost as much as men and face more barriers to support, few services took a gendered approach. Aila is a digital platform and community created through co-production with people with lived and living experience. It provides a safe, supportive environment for women and non-binary people across Scotland, with live chat, tools and resources for people experiencing gambling harms and for professionals. The Lived and Living library centres lived experience, with women sharing their stories through a variety of mediums.
Through Aila’s (Moving) Living Room, we also run online and in-person support groups offering holistic support and community. They provide a safe space for women to feel heard and supported while enjoying activities such as foraging, arts and mindfulness.
Our harm reduction work extends beyond gambling, recognising that people often face interconnected challenges and barriers to traditional services. By My Side is a free harm reduction app developed by Simon Community Scotland in partnership with Digital Lifelines Scotland. It brings together evidence-based information, resources and signposting to local services on substance use, alongside mental health, gambling, homelessness, and domestic and sexual violence. Designed to put people at the centre, it recognises that stigma, discrimination and other barriers can make seeking support difficult, offering an alternative route to trusted information, including for people not ready or able to engage with in-person services.
Like our gambling harms work, By My Side was co-produced with people with lived and living experience. Our steering group, made up of women supported by Simon Community Scotland with experience of homelessness and substance use, shaped the app’s design and content. Their insights continue to guide its development, ensuring it reflects the real needs and priorities of the people it is designed to support.
