A large proportion of young people entering Centrepoint’s services are not in education, employment or training. Furthermore, young people experiencing homelessness are disproportionately more likely to face barriers in sustaining employment, education and training because of challenges like mental ill-health, the financial pressures of living independently and complex family relationships.
Centrepoint Works was set up in 2016, although the learning team has existed in some form within Centrepoint for over 15 years. The programme supports young people from across the UK into employment, education or training (EET) – a key component of our strategy in enabling young people to move on from homelessness.
Information, advice and guidance
The IAG (Information, Advice & Guidance) & Jobs Team , headed by Sadie Odeogberin, is the first port of call for young people wanting to access education, training and employment. Every young person who is not in education, employment or training is assigned a Jobs and Education Team (JET) Advisor to complete a skills mapper assessment. This helps to identify their strengths and learning needs and tailor the support. The JET team, managed by Shade Oladiti, is the gateway to supporting a young person’s short, medium and long-term goals and aspirations.
“We really encourage them not to limit themselves by the things they haven’t got or haven’t done. Many young people may have had negative experiences of education. Many of them left school early, so the biggest barriers are a lack of qualifications and confidence in their abilities. We try to find out their preferred way of learning when we do a skills mapper with them right at the start. It’s really finding the appropriate learning environment for them,” Shade says. “It’s so wonderful to see their journeys; seeing their confidence and persistence flourish, much of the time against all odds.”
Marcia Higgins, one of the newest members of the JET team says, “I am proud to work for Centrepoint. I work closely with Support & Housing teams to access referrals and ensure we are on the same page for the young person. Without their support the Jobs & Education Team’s role is a lot harder and doesn’t join up, leaving the young person at a disadvantage. The Centrepoint Works offer to young people is outstanding and finding ways to engage them in EET whilst they are in Centrepoint is key to their future.
In 2021/22 just under 70% of young people who accessed IAG progressed into EET. Considering the challenges the young people experience, this is a huge success.
The Centrepoint bursary fund
The support doesn’t end once a young person enters education, employment or training. It is complemented by Centrepoint’s Bursary Scheme, set up in 2007. Sadie says this is fundamental to the learning offer: “Without the bursary, the majority of our young people wouldn’t be able to sustain education, employment and training. It removes the financial barriers for them and that is key for a young person who has no family support.”
“We receive so much positive feedback from the young people supported by the bursary,” says Paul Beaumont, Senior Bursary Coordinator. “Hearing how that support has helped young people is the best part of my job.”
One young person says, “The continuous support that I have received from Centrepoint has been fundamental to remaining in higher education. It’s allowed me to focus on studying rather than managing finances. I’m currently in my second of four years of university – without their bursary, I don’t think I would be able to do what I do.”
Over the past year, the bursary has supported 71 university students; 137 unique young people have been supported into one or more education opportunities; and the team have moved just under 165 unique young people to secure one or more employment positions.
The training team
Centrepoint Works also has a training team, headed up by Evelyn Rimmer, which aims to bridge the gap between education and training. Our wonderful team of trainers support young people in areas such as functional skills; employability skills (e.g. CV writing, interview prep); and social skills courses such as
Our sector specific Get Set Go and Get Into programmes provide young people with structured programmes of learning, as well as the opportunity to gain qualifications/unit accreditation and to participate in relevant work experience linked to their career/job goals. The focus of the programmes is to help move young people closer to or into employment.
The sectors we offer Get Set Go programmes for include Construction, Hospitality, Digital, Health & Social Care, Horticultural, Property Management and Warehousing.
M’Power is a programme developed specifically for the young people we support. This ‘bitesize learning’ provides them with a toolbox of skills and techniques to support them in becoming confident, independent and active contributors in the communities in which they reside, and helps to bridge the gap towards taking part in longer training programmes. Units include Wellness, Resilience and Confidence building.
“We can be flexible and tailor the programmes to the young person’s needs,” says Evelyn. “We understand that we have a lot of work to do with a young person to get them to a place where they can even contemplate being back in an educational setting. The education system can be a one-size-fits-all approach and it’s just not the way life is. We have a dedicated and highly skilled team who are able to identify those steps and take the time to work with young people to break down those barriers and support them to achieve positive outcomes.”
Wendy Gurr, who manages the training team in London, echoes this sentiment. “For those that aren’t fully engaged yet, we will create shorter learning programmes that get them into a routine and ready for learning again. A classroom environment is not for everyone – there are a lot of young people who just can’t cope with it; the flexibility of our programmes is really helpful for them where they get more one-on-one or small group support.”
Most importantly, for many of the young people Centrepoint Works support, the biggest hurdle is getting a young person to believe they can achieve something. As Wendy says, “We raise their aspirations. We see some amazing transformations in the young people we support. The change in confidence can be the most important thing to help them progress.”
Last year the training team supported over 100 young people to achieve more than 150 accredited training qualifications, helping them to move closer to getting a job and living independently.
Leaving Centrepoint in education, employment or training means a young person has a better chance of remaining independent and sustaining a home. Our CP Works team is vital in supporting young people in this way. We salute you!