Making Scotland's internationally acclaimed 2012 homelessness commitment a reality will be at the heart of Shelter Scotland's annual conference on the legislation, which is being held next month.

Delegates will hear from experts in the field on how Scotland will meet the commitment to give everyone who is unintentionally homeless the right to a home by 2012.

Minister for Housing and Communities, Alex Neil MSP, will be the keynote speaker at the event, which has been hosted for several years to chart the progress towards the 2012 commitment.

Recent figures show that overall Scotland is making good progress towards the commitment. But there is still a lot of important work to be done to ensure Scotland fulfils the internationally acclaimed homelessness legislation by 2012, according to the housing charity.

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The Delivering 2012: sharing ideas on ending homelessness conference, which is being sponsored by Orchard & Shipman plc, will focus on ways of preventing and alleviating homelessness and how agencies can work together to make the 2012 homelessness commitment a reality across Scotland.

Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter Scotland, the housing and homelessness charity, said: "The eyes of the world are upon us as we approach the date for fulfilling our flagship homelessness commitment. Thousands of people in Scotland are living in temporary housing presently waiting for a home to call their own. For their sake, we cannot afford to fail.

"We can and will meet the 2012 homelessness commitment but we cannot afford to be complacent. It is vital we all work together to make the right to a home for everyone a reality. Our one day conference in Glasgow will try to offer some insight into how we can achieve this and give those involved the opportunity to share experiences and discuss new ideas around meeting 2012 and ending homelessness."

The conference will hear from keynote speakers including Alex Neil MSP, Minister for Housing and Communities, Dr Isobel Anderson, Senior Lecturer, University of Stirling, Graeme Brown, Director, Shelter Scotland, Jill Cronin, Policy and Strategy Manager, South Ayrshire Council and Andrew Morrison, Director of Policy and Business Development at Orchard & Shipman plc.

To find out more about the conference on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 in Glasgow, call 0844 515 2465 or email [email protected]

(GK/BMcC)