Brighton Housing Trust (BHT), in its work to prepare homeless people for employment, made a commitment to employing within its own workforce 30 former service users by the end of 2008.
BHT employs 185 members of staff and has a number of work and learning initiatives in place. It is confident that participants will learn the necessary skills and qualities so that they can compete successfully in the jobs market.
Director of Homelessness Services, Nikki Homewood, said:
"Very often ex-homeless people either lack basic skills or are not seen as having the skills and qualities necessary for employment. Our experience is that with the right training, input, support, and advice, homeless people can become employable. We have a number of schemes up and running that have already helped people gain employment. Very often what holds people back is the lack of ambition and confidence of others.
"BHT has many years experience of seeing people whose situation might seem hopeless achieve great things. We want that success to be part of BHT with 30 former service users being in employment with BHT by the end of 2008".
BHT is one of the fiftieth largest employers in Brighton & Hove, with 185 full-time members of staff and a further 75 temporary or volunteer members of staff.
BHT Chief Executive, Andy Winter, said:
"In setting ourselves this challenge we would also like to challenge other employers in the City. We would like them to seriously consider working with us to take on our service users as employees. Brighton & Hove has an increasing problem associated with skills shortages. Working with us, we can prepare people to meet the skills gap so that users of our services can be seen as part of the solution and not part of the problem."
Staff and young people at Centrepoint, the UK's leading youth homelessness charity, celebrated Adult Learners' Week at the opening of their new e-learning centre. The setting aims to give staff the chance to learn away from their desk in a relaxed atmosphere and was opened to mark Adult Learners' Week.
As well as offering online and e-learning facilities, the multi-media centre is a drop-in facility for staff wishing to develop their existing skills or learn new ones. The comfortable setting opposes the traditional grey desk space and staff can take advantage of tips to help them refuel, de-stress and maximise their energy levels.
Young homeless people supported by Centrepoint also celebrated Adult Learner's week with a programme of activity including visits to the Tate Modern and Natural History Museum.
Adult Learners' Week is the UK's largest celebration of learning and is co-ordinated by NIACE, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, supported by the Department for Education and Skills and the European Social Fund with additional support from Learndirect and Ofcom.
The Prince of Wales joined celebrations marking the success of a charity that helps homeless ex-servicemen and women get back into work. Accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall, they attended the reception for Project Compass, an initiative which has put nearly 200 former members of the armed forces through training schemes since its launch in 2004.
The project offers two-week work placements at organisations from city firms to football clubs as a stepping stone to securing employment.
At the Ministry of Defence in central London, the royal couple met some of the people who have benefited from the scheme.
In a speech to guests, Charles said he had learned that up to a quarter of people sleeping rough on London streets had served in the forces. He said Project Compass was helping to "break the cycle" for those who had struggled to adjust after leaving the services.
Source: www.24dash.com
Housing, health and local government organisations that can demonstrate innovative ways of tackling homelessness were invited to apply for the Association of London Government's Andy Ludlow Homelessness Awards 2006.
The UK's leading homelessness award scheme - now in its eighth year - is offering a total of £25,000 prize money to organisations that develop new, creative ways of tackling homelessness, as well as rewarding examples of good practice.
This year's judges will be looking for evidence of work that improves services for homeless people, prevents homelessness, or tackles the disadvantages that it causes.
The winner will receive a prize of £10,000, with £5,000 going to each of the three runners up.
The awards are open to a range of organisations working to tackle homelessness, including social landlords, housing and social services departments, NHS trusts, housing associations, and voluntary organisations.
Previous winners have found that in addition to the widely recognised endorsement provided by the awards, they have also helped attract funding to enable winning organisations to develop their services.
Last year there were two winners for the awards, which each received £10,000. They were:
The Andy Ludlow Awards are unique in that they promote innovation in working to prevent and reduce homelessness in London. Success in the awards sets an excellent example to other organisations working to tackle homelessness.
The closing date for entries for this year's awards is 3 July 2006.
