Anita Birchall launched the Threshold Housing First pilot in 2015. The charity’s programme works with women who have been released from prison, using Housing First to curb reoffending rates and protect women from violence. Now in its fourth year, a study from partners York University found that 90 per cent of the women in the programme have so far been able to sustain a tenancy. The basic underlying principle of the Housing First model is that people are better able to move forward with their lives if they are first housed in permanent self-contained housing with wrap- around services as required. It has influenced thinking about homelessness strategies both in the UK and across Europe by demonstrating that women experience different routes into, and out of, homelessness, often not coming to the attention of agencies and having much more complex and entrenched problems than their male counterparts as a result.