Friends First
Education & Skills
Help us connect people who have experienced disadvantage with work placements. Your support will open doors, paying for essential costs
About this cause
Our purpose is to empower people to live positive and sustainable lives, by supporting them to be equipped for employment, established in homes, and connected to community. Friends First applicants have faced homelessness (68%), criminal convictions (32%) and are in substance misuse recovery (31%). Our support: - Pathways to Employment - Part-time volunteer work placements (30-40 people per year). - Pathways to Housing - 'Work Ready' Shared Housing (12), 'Home from Home' lodgings (2) and 'Short Stay Housing' (5). - Support - 1-1 therapeutic support, art therapy courses and volunteer mentoring (30). Our model is simple, but as a 'social enterprise' one which enables us to be increasingly self-sustaining, allowing us to offer our services without the need for local authority funding.
How this cause brings people in the community together
Our pilot already tells us working with organisations is mutually beneficial in tackling local issues. This project is about connecting local organisations, whether they're businesses or charities, with people in their local community. The opportunities provided could change the course of a life. We want to see an open and inclusive community, breaking barriers and addressing local need together.