Housing Action Academy

Our new Housing Action Academy is a free campaign and community organising training programme. It is designed to equip you with the skills to demand better housing rights and campaign for change.

You'll learn from our experienced community organisers working with people locally to fight the housing emergency.  Join us to challenge housing injustice from the ground up.

Why join our training events?

Build confidence and skills

Gain confidence and ability to develop a powerful voice and make a lasting impact.

Learn from experienced community organisers 

Training from our dedicated team already supporting communities to win change.

Meet others fighting housing injustice

Fight for better housing rights with people experiencing similar issues to you.

Campaign skills

Learn how to plan a campaign and make an impact.

Community organising toolbox 

Learn the principles and steps to create change in your community. 

Capacity building 

Bring people together and empower them to plan, act and drive change. 

Housing rights 

Know your rights and how to demand them.  

Our training is for people who:

are affected by housing issues who want to campaign for change
want to organise in their community and support local and national campaigns
are passionate about fighting housing injustice

You don’t need any prior knowledge of the topic to join.

Watch Activism Officer, Sophie, talking about the Housing Action Academy.

Hear from previous training attendees

Here's what people have said about our training sessions so far:

It was wonderful to meet (via Zoom) other activists who are trying to improve their situations at a local level. The trainers were brilliant and the tasks were practical, helpful and relevant. I left the session feeling reinvigorated and determined to change things in my community.

I think training of this nature is so important to empower tenants to campaign for their rights and improve standards in rental and social housing. I would recommend the training to anybody wanting to get further involved in a housing campaign in the future. I'm looking forward to signing up for future sessions and expanding my skills. Thanks!

Learning skills that help build up and focus campaigns, such as the SMART goals and the stakeholder/power mapping was great. Hearing from others allowed me to see things I wouldn't have thought about beforehand as a stakeholder. This will be helpful going forward as I'm currently in the process of starting a new local group.

I thought that maybe the training would be focused on getting people involved in Shelter's own campaigns, but I like that it focused on people's own personal housing campaigns.

Got a question? We’re here to help.

How can I sign up for training?

We run training throughout the year.

Our trainings are run by our community organisers and campaigns officers.

There are two ways to sign up

Join our Housing Action Academy mailing list. We’ll email you when registration opens for each training.
Choose your training and sign up to register.
Registration opens a few weeks before the event. Once you register, you’ll receive an email to confirm your place.

If a training event is booked up, we will close registration. Ahead of the training, you’ll receive a reminder. You may cancel your place if you can no longer attend.

How many people will be on each training? 

Our training events have a maximum capacity of 15 people. This is the size we think is right for the style of training we run and gives as many people the opportunity to learn as possible, whilst being small enough to run breakout rooms and discussions effectively.

Unfortunately, this means not everyone who signs up will get a place and we allocate training on a first-come-first-served basis. Those who have made it on to the training will receive the Zoom link close to the date of the training event. Those who don’t make it will receive an email notification, and be the first to be invited the next time that training runs.

Can I cancel my place if I can no longer attend? 

Yes. If you register for a training and your plans change, you can cancel your place by responding to one of the emails you receive. You can also email us at campaign@shelter.org.uk

What can I expect from the training?

You’ll be encouraged to participate throughout the training.

Training will include a mix of presentation, discussion, activities and groupwork using Zoom breakout rooms. 

I’m not sure how to join courses on Zoom. Can you help?  

Much of our training is run on Zoom - the online meeting platform.

This makes it accessible for people in different parts of the country. It's best to join on a computer, not a phone.

If you don't have Zoom yet, you can download it. There are Zoom guides if you need support.

We know some people affected by housing issues can face barriers to joining online events. If you need help using Zoom, there’ll be a chance to get in touch once you’ve registered.

Why can’t I sign up for training in advance?

How do you decide which trainings to offer?

Each year we look at what’s happening in the housing sector.

For example, if an important piece of legislation on renting or planning is coming up, we may add training on how to influence politicians. This is so people can become better equipped to demand change and shape new policies.

How many people can I expect to be at my training event?

We aim to have approximately 15 people in each training event. This is the number of people we can run breakout rooms and hold group discussions with effectively. We cap registrations after a certain point and operate on a first-come-first-served basis.

In the event that large numbers sign up before we can cap registration, those who have made it on to the training will receive the Zoom link to attend. Those who signed up last will be the first to hear about the training when it runs again.

Ask the team

Get in contact about training.

More ways to take action