Training programme for homeless people receives award of £2.25 million

Citation

(2000), "Training programme for homeless people receives award of £2.25 million", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 32 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2000.03732bab.003

Training programme for homeless people receives award of £2.25 million

Training programme for homeless people receives award of £2.25 million

Keywords: Vocational training, Awards

"Off the Streets and into Work" (OSW), Europe's largest co-ordinated guidance, training and employment programme for homeless people, is to receive £2.25 million to continue its work in central London. The award, to be paid over the next three years from the Government's Single Regeneration Budget, will enable OSW to provide a further 2,500 homeless individuals with access to vocational skills training and further education, with an anticipated 1,000 of these gaining employment.

The project was launched in 1996 to integrate the respective expertise of homeless support agencies and training providers. Managed by four trustee organizations, including FOCUS Central London, its holistic approach allows individuals to access housing support along with training and employment guidance.

Since its launch, OSW has helped more than 1,000 homeless people access vocational skills training and further education, with over 800 securing jobs. It also helped establish "Streets Ahead", run by Centrepoint, Europe's only specialist jobs brokerage for the homeless.

With a total budget of £2.5 million per annum and newly formed charitable status, OSW expects to see more than 3,000 clients this year. Chris Robinson, Director of "Off the Streets and into Work", explains "This award of £2.25 million will allow us to continue the work and success of what has proved a ground-breaking project. It will help us provide guidance, training and employment services to an otherwise socially excluded group and break the 'no home, no job cycle"'.

"Through integrating the work of individual schemes designed to assist homeless people, including the London Rough Sleeping Unit, we have been able to get these individuals back into a regular and stable living and working environment."

For further information regarding OSW, please contact Chris Robinson or Vince Murphy on Tel. +44 (0) 171 226 0909.