Kerri Douglas: Homelessness Speaker & Lived Experience Consultant
Helping organisations understand the story before the street through powerful keynote speaking, lived experience led training and homelessness consultancy.
I bring lived experience of homelessness and rough sleeping together with years of advocacy, public speaking and work alongside homelessness organisations, services and decision makers.
My speaking has taken me to sector conferences, national assemblies, housing events, Lord's Cricket Ground, The Shard and the Houses of Parliament.
Whether I am delivering a keynote, facilitating team learning or advising an organisation, the aim is the same: help people look beyond behaviour and understand the human story underneath it.
“If we only respond to what we can see, we risk missing the very experiences that could help us understand the person in front of us.”
Kerri Douglas
Homelessness is the visible part of a much bigger story
Someone misses an appointment. Refuses accommodation. Relapses. Returns to an unsafe relationship. Becomes angry with the people trying to help.
It can be easy to focus on the behaviour.
But behaviour does not happen in isolation.
Behind what looks like disengagement may be fear. Behind mistrust may be years of broken promises. Behind substance use may be trauma, pain and a way of surviving experiences a person has never felt safe enough to process.
And behind homelessness itself there is almost always a story that began long before someone lost a roof over their head.
My work helps professionals and organisations understand that story, challenge assumptions and create responses grounded in compassion, consistency, dignity and human understanding.
Bringing lived experience into rooms where homelessness is being discussed
My work has taken me from lived experience to national sector conferences, housing events, charity assemblies, policy conversations and major venues across the UK.
Under One Roof Summer Conference
Featured by Homeless Link as an author, keynote speaker and lived experience consultant within its national summer conference programme for the homelessness and supported housing sector.
View event reference →Turning Points: The Moments That Changed Everything
Invited speaker in the National Assembly plenary session alongside Jay Flynn MBE, Emmaus companions and sector leaders, reflecting on the journey out of homelessness.
View Emmaus programme →Housing Horizons: People, Policy, Place
Speaker alongside Bianca Robinson, bringing lived experience of homelessness into a housing-sector conversation about safety, community and trauma informed approaches.
View event feedback →Listening and Responding to Lived Experience
Speaker at the Westminster Homeless Network event alongside Jon Kuhrt, Specialist Rough Sleeping Adviser to MHCLG, discussing lived experience and homelessness.
View event reference →Lived Experience Ambassador & Speaker
Ongoing lived experience ambassador and speaker supporting CEO Sleepout's work with business leaders and homelessness organisations, including speaking at Lord's Cricket Ground and The Shard.
View CEO Sleepout reference →Houses of Parliament
Spoken in the Houses of Parliament on homelessness and lived experience, carrying a perspective shaped by years spent sleeping rough into conversations about policy and social change.
View independent reference →From understanding to meaningful change
Training, speaking and consultancy can be delivered independently or combined to create deeper learning across your organisation.
Homelessness Inside Out
An interactive online learning experience built around lived experience and designed for people working with or alongside people experiencing homelessness.
Across eight interactive chapters, learners move beyond statistics and explore what can sit behind homelessness, behaviour, disengagement and trust.
- Eight interactive chapters
- Real life scenarios
- Guided reflection
- Knowledge checks
- Trauma informed learning
- Printable certificate
- Individual and team access
- Unlimited access
Team Training
Facilitated training for teams who want to explore Homelessness Inside Out together and connect the learning directly to their own practice.
Sessions create space for reflection, discussion and honest conversations about behaviour, trust, trauma and the realities people may bring into services.
- Homelessness charities
- Housing associations
- Local authorities
- Outreach teams
- Health and social care
- Voluntary organisations
- Learning and development teams
- Frontline services
Keynote Speaking
Powerful lived experience led talks that challenge judgement and help audiences understand homelessness, trauma, addiction, resilience and human behaviour differently.
I combine personal experience with professional insight so audiences leave with more than an emotional story.
- Conferences
- Sector events
- Staff development days
- Leadership events
- Policy and roundtable events
- Housing and homelessness events
- Charity and public sector events
- Online and in person delivery
Homelessness Consultancy
Lived experience informed consultancy helping organisations understand the barriers people face and strengthen the way services respond.
I bring together lived experience, advocacy, professional insight and trauma informed understanding to support practical service improvement.
- Lived experience consultation
- Service design
- Trauma informed practice
- Engagement and trust
- Staff development
- Policy insight
- Co production
- Reflective practice
Homelessness Inside Out
Not another course explaining what homelessness looks like from the outside.
Homelessness Inside Out was created to help learners understand what homelessness can feel like from the inside.
It brings together my lived experience of long term homelessness, addiction, trauma and exploitation with the professional insight I have gained through advocacy, working alongside services and contributing to conversations about homelessness and social change.
The learning goes beyond the sleeping bag, hostel room or tenancy.
It explores the experiences that can shape trust, relationships, behaviour, engagement and the ability to accept support.
There is always a story before the street.
Because giving someone somewhere to live matters.
But if we want people to feel safe, engage with support, rebuild trust and sustain change, understanding the person behind the homelessness has to be part of the solution too.
Explore the TrainingSpeaking that goes beyond the surface
Talks can be adapted around your audience, event and organisational objectives.
The Story Before the Street
Exploring what can happen before homelessness and why those experiences can continue shaping behaviour, trust, relationships and engagement long after someone enters a service.
Beyond Behaviour
A trauma informed exploration of addiction, anger, disengagement, repeated homelessness, unsafe relationships and the experiences that may sit underneath what professionals see.
Homelessness Inside Out
A lived experience led talk challenging assumptions about homelessness and helping audiences understand the human story behind the statistics.
From Adversity to Achievement
Kerri's wider resilience keynote exploring trauma, homelessness, addiction, shame, responsibility, recovery and what becomes possible when our past stops defining our future.
Trauma, Trust and Engagement
Understanding why accepting help is not always simple and how consistency, relationships, dignity and psychological safety can influence engagement.
Lived Experience and System Change
Exploring how lived experience can strengthen policy, services, staff learning and organisational decision making when it is genuinely heard and meaningfully included.
Speaking that stays with people after the event
The goal is not simply to tell my story. It is to leave people thinking differently about homelessness, services and the person behind the behaviour.
“Kerri shared her very personal story and, as always, she captivated the room.”
Bianca Robinson
CEO Sleepout UK
“The feedback we have had has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Dr Angela Brockbank
WISH North East event organiser
“She explained how better to converse with people living on the streets, which I have put into practice.”
Fiona Ross
CEO Sleepout participant
Feedback above is drawn from publicly available LinkedIn comments following Kerri's speaking and sector work.
Helping organisations look beneath the surface
Good services are built on more than policies, pathways and processes.
They are built around people.
My consultancy work helps organisations explore how services are experienced by the people accessing them and where trauma, mistrust, stigma, communication or system barriers may affect engagement.
I bring a perspective shaped by both lived experience and years of working alongside organisations, campaigns, charities and public bodies.
The purpose is not to criticise frontline professionals.
It is to help organisations better understand the realities staff and service users are navigating and identify practical opportunities for stronger, more human responses.
Consultancy may include
- Homelessness service design
- Lived experience consultation
- Trauma informed practice reviews
- Engagement and trust
- Understanding repeat homelessness
- Understanding disengagement
- Staff training and development
- Reflective practice
- Policy and strategy consultation
- Co production
- Women's homelessness insight
- Youth homelessness insight
- Addiction and complex needs
- Service user experience
Learning that can change the way people experience services
Every organisation is different, but the goal is always to move beyond awareness and towards practical understanding.
Deeper understanding
Helping staff understand the experiences that may sit behind homelessness rather than focusing only on the situation they can see.
Less judgement
Challenging assumptions around addiction, disengagement, relapse, anger, relationships and repeated homelessness.
Stronger engagement
Helping teams consider how trust, consistency, choice and communication can influence whether someone feels able to engage.
Trauma informed responses
Building awareness of how trauma and survival experiences can influence behaviour, relationships and decision making.
Greater empathy
Helping staff reconnect with the human being behind referrals, assessments, behaviours and labels.
Meaningful action
Turning learning and reflection into practical changes that can strengthen services, relationships and everyday practice.
I know what homelessness looks like from the inside
I experienced homelessness and rough sleeping from the age of 13 to 24.
My life included childhood trauma, the care system, exploitation, addiction, domestic violence, mental health struggles, prison and years spent trying to survive.
I know what it feels like to be judged by behaviour without people understanding what came before it.
I also know what becomes possible when someone is met with consistency, opportunity, responsibility, compassion and the chance to rebuild.
My journey has taken me from long term homelessness and addiction to recovery, advocacy, speaking in the Houses of Parliament and contributing to national sector conversations about homelessness and social change.
I have also spoken at Homeless Link's Under One Roof conference, Emmaus UK's National Assembly, WISH North East housing events and CEO Sleepout events, bringing lived experience into professional and policy spaces.
I have worked alongside charities, public bodies and services, bringing lived experience into conversations about policy, practice and how people experiencing homelessness are understood.
Homelessness Inside Out brings those perspectives together.
“I do not want people to simply understand homelessness. I want them to understand the human being experiencing it.”
Kerri Douglas
For anyone whose work brings them alongside people experiencing homelessness
Homelessness Inside Out training, speaking and consultancy can support organisations across the homelessness and wider public service system.
Homelessness Services
Outreach, hostels, supported accommodation, day centres and frontline homelessness teams.
Housing
Housing associations, tenancy sustainment teams, homelessness prevention and local authority housing services.
Health and Social Care
Teams supporting people experiencing trauma, addiction, poor mental health, complex needs and health inequalities.
Charities and Voluntary Organisations
Staff, volunteers, peer teams and organisations supporting vulnerable or marginalised communities.
Local Authorities
Housing options, homelessness prevention, safeguarding, commissioning and wider public service teams.
Learning and Development
Organisations looking for lived experience led induction, CPD, workforce development and reflective learning.
Choose the approach that works for your organisation
From individual online learning to organisation wide training, speaking and consultancy, support can be adapted around your team, audience and objectives.
Individual Online Access
Complete Homelessness Inside Out independently and work through all eight interactive chapters at your own pace.
Team Licences
Give multiple members of your organisation access for induction, CPD, reflective learning or wider workforce development.
Interactive Training
Facilitated virtual or in person sessions connecting the themes within Homelessness Inside Out directly to practice.
Keynote Speaking
Lived experience led speaking for conferences, events, learning days, leadership sessions and sector conversations.
Consultancy
Tailored support around lived experience, service design, trauma informed practice, engagement and organisational learning.
Panels and Roundtables
Lived experience insight for policy discussions, sector events, roundtables, research and strategic conversations.
If we want to change homelessness, understanding has to be part of the solution.
Whether you are looking for individual learning, training for your team, a lived experience speaker or consultancy support, I would love to hear from you.