Cathy Come Home at 60: Reflecting on Homelessness and Our Commitment to Safe, Secure Homes
On 16 November 2026, we mark the 60th anniversary of Cathy Come Home, the landmark television drama first broadcast in 1966. The film highlighted the devastating impact of homelessness and housing insecurity, challenging perceptions and helping to bring housing poverty into the national conversation.
Six decades on, its message remains as relevant as ever. Having a safe, secure and affordable home is fundamental to people’s wellbeing, stability and opportunities in life. As we reflect on the film’s legacy, we are also looking at the role we all play in preventing homelessness and helping people to thrive in their homes and communities.
The legacy of Cathy Come Home is a reminder that homelessness is not simply about the loss of a home. It can affect people’s health, relationships, wellbeing and future opportunities. As we mark the 60th anniversary, we are taking the opportunity to reflect on the progress made, recognise the challenges that remain and consider how we can continue to make a positive difference.
Our commitment to preventing homelessness
At Tai Calon, we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to live in a safe, secure home and be part of a thriving community. Through our work, we support customers to sustain their occupation contract, access the help they need and overcome challenges before they reach crisis point.
We recognise that homelessness can affect people in many ways and that early intervention, partnership working and understanding individual circumstances are essential to preventing it.
Marking this important anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on the difference social housing makes, recognise the challenges people continue to face and reaffirm our commitment to supporting customers and strengthening our communities.
Working towards the Homes for Cathy commitments
As part of this commitment, Tai Calon has submitted an application to become a member of Homes for Cathy, a national group of housing organisations working to prevent and end homelessness.
The Homes for Cathy campaign is built around seven commitments that encourage housing organisations to make homelessness prevention central to their work. These include contributing to ending homelessness through their core business, actively preventing homelessness and offering flexible, supportive lettings policies. They also emphasise the importance of working in partnership to support people experiencing homelessness, challenging stigma, helping customers sustain their tenancies and using their influence to improve outcomes for people affected by homelessness.
Taking practical action
Preventing homelessness means more than responding when someone is at risk of losing their home. It means identifying concerns early, understanding the reasons behind them and working with customers and partners to find effective, sustainable solutions.
Over the past year, Tai Calon has continued to strengthen several areas of our work to support these aims. We have reviewed and rewritten our tenancy termination procedure to strengthen our approach to homelessness prevention and take account of proposed legislative changes in Wales. We have also strengthened our safeguarding approach, helping us identify risks earlier and work effectively with partners to support vulnerable individuals and families.
Our work to address anti-social behaviour continues to focus on the experiences of those affected, with an emphasis on prevention, early intervention, appropriate support and proportionate enforcement. Alongside this, we are continuing to develop our allocations approach to ensure homes are allocated fairly and effectively, while supporting sustainable communities.
We understand that supporting people to sustain their tenancies must go hand in hand with creating safe and welcoming neighbourhoods. Our approach aims to balance early intervention and appropriate support with the need to protect customers, communities and neighbourhoods.
By continually reviewing and improving our services, we want to ensure people can access the right support at the right time and that our homes contribute to safe, stable and thriving communities.
Our application to join Homes for Cathy represents an important step in reaffirming our commitment to preventing homelessness and supporting people to live well in their communities.
In the lead-up to the anniversary, we will share further updates on the work we are undertaking in support of the Homes for Cathy commitments. Together with our customers, partners and stakeholders, we will continue working towards a future where more people can access the support they need, sustain a safe and secure home, and build a positive future for themselves and their families.