Government funds pilot to make homeless more employable

RA Now

A government-funded pilot scheme aims to train and improve the skills of homeless people in order to get into work.

The London STRIVE (Skills, Training, Innovation and Employment) will initially help 100 single homeless people over two years, with a programme designed to build up basic skills in IT, maths and English. The programme aims to improve the participants’ confidence to a level that will allow them to get more training and ultimately move into work, according  to the government.

A total of £297,330 will be invested by the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills over the two year pilot and the Department for Work and Pensions is working with the homeless charities Crisis and St Mungo’s to establish referrals onto the scheme. The two charities will also work with Jobcentre Plus to identify suitable individuals to join the programme, and to measure the progress towards employability.

Crisis and St. Mungos’s Broadway are both being funded to work with clients to develop basic skills in English, maths and IT, as well as developing essential employability skills according to each individual’s needs and aspirations.

“I can think of few better uses of education funding than to support English, maths, and IT skills for homeless people,” said skills and enterprise minister Matthew Hancock. “There is no doubt that charities like St Mungo’s Broadway and Crisis are best placed to reach those in need of help, but we are backing them in this vital task.

Leslie Morphy, chief executive of Crisis, added: “This new pre-employment programme will help us reach more people, getting them back on their feet and leaving homelessness behind.

But while our services have long been successful they have always struggled to get mainstream funding. It is vital that as well as helping individuals we use this programme to capture what works and ensure the lessons are fed into employment programmes and funding to ensure all homeless people across the country get the help they need.