When Opportunity knocks!
A small project on Lower Hastings Street in Leicester that accommodates and supports twenty three young homeless people (16 – 25) is embracing an opportunity following the launch of the Government’s Future Jobs Fund.
Young homeless people are stereotypically seen as benefit seekers with little or no interest in wanting gainful employment. However Leicester City Council, following structured Needs Assessment and Support Planning sessions has discovered a very different picture. Many young people desperately want the opportunity to work. They want to meet new people, reduce their personal debt and have the chance to be able to support themselves. Ultimately they want take their place as valued members of the local community.
The Future Jobs Fund has been the catalyst for a change in mindset for not only the young people that it so obviously targets but also the professionals who work with them on a daily basis.
The benefit system impacts very differently on individuals in supported accommodation who are seeking employment for 16 hours or above. The reductions in Housing Benefit coupled with (for example) the loss of the Social Fund Community Care Grant are definitely seen as a barrier to employment.
Service Users and staff at the Lower Hastings Street Project are together beginning to challenge some of these barriers. With the support of accommodation providers, local employers, the Job Centre and organizations in the ‘third sector’, alternative and innovative ways to move forward are being found.
Employers across Leicester have signed up with the Future Jobs Fund to create a variety of real career opportunities. Housing Services within Leicester City Council have been successful through the Future Jobs Fund in creating employment opportunities for ‘Neighbourhood Improvement Operatives’. These jobs, which are expected to last between 6 and 12 months, will look to give young people who have been ‘long term unemployed’ (reduced now to six months) the skills, knowledge and training to improve the environment in which they live. The Lower Hastings Street Project is actively building a relationship with Housing Services to maximize this wonderful opportunity.
At last there is hope for young people who have been socially excluded. With support around job applications, interview technique and personal presentation skills they can actually get a real job! The next step is to focus on pre tenancy training to enable a planned progression towards independent living.
I can hear now the staggered cacophony of mobile phone alarms on Lower Hastings Street as the young people who reside there get up in the morning to prepare for a day at work…………. who would have thought it!!
Gary Freestone
Manager
Lower Hastings Street Project
