Meaningful Activity for Homeless People
It isn't about killing time - it's about making time live.
Meaningful Occupation and Training
For many of the clients we see building skills and confidence as the key to a life away from the streets. We do this through a range of structured activities to help people get ready for the next step, whether it is further training and education, volunteering or employment. They are able to do these activities in an environment in which they feel safe and are supported by trained staff who understand their needs.
Some of the great projects we have had in the last year:
- Trainee Scheme: A seven week programme where clients volunteer in our day centre, helping us to deliver services while they build interpersonal and employment skills and get valuable experience. At the end of this they also receive a certificate in basic food hygiene.
Many clients go on to the second phase of the scheme, building on their customer service skills in the afternoon coffee shop. - 150 Voices: 150 stories of homelessness, poverty, migration and hope through the eyes of the people who have experienced it. This collection of videos, photographs and soundbites gives a voice to those who are not normally heard. The full project can be viewed here.
- Dellowcentric: A newsletter written and edited by clients, for clients. This provides a platform for people to express their experience of the streets or just to have their say about a subject. Also included is art work and photos from the art workshop. You can visit the website here!
- Employment Support: this focuses primarily on UK citizens and those from Eastern Europe. It is particularly important for the Eastern Europeans, many of whom have no recourse to public funds and need employment to find funds for housing. We create individual action plans to help people get back into work and provide support to help them stay in work. Our methods include practice interviews and CV writing.
- Art workshops: Aside from learning to paint and draw we also offer photography workshops. Client work is regularly exhibited and clients are also taken to view local galleries.
- IT café and workshops: at our IT suite people can use the internet to stay in touch with loved ones but also attend workshops on Dreamweaver and Photoshop to build their skills.
- Open Film: a weekly film club which takes place every Wednesday at our Satellite Centre. Run by Open House Film Club it shows a variety of films and holds talks from people in the film industry.
- Short film making: - As part of the Open House Film Club we run a short film making course where clients chose the subject, shoot and edit the film which is then shown at a Gala evening.
- Street League: – includes football training sessions as well as opportunities to take part in five-a-side league days. In conjunction with Centrepoint and West Ham FC, coaches hold sessiona with under 25’s. Sport is obviously a chance to exercise as well as a great way to engage clients and introduce employability opportunities.
- Theatre and Performing Arts: With help from Cardboard Citizens, we run regular workshops that give clients the opportunity to take part in music and theatre. In particular we run a samba drumming workshop and Circus Skills workshop. We also host the Cardboard Citizens annual play which is performed by people who have experienced homelessness.
Also in this section
Bike Workshops
Art Workshops