CHESS Homeless has been awarded a Community Grant to fund a new project which will provide training and employment opportunities to the homeless in Chelmsford and Essex, and in doing so address the high number of homeless people who struggle to find employment.
The grant has been awarded by CXK, through the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) under their Community Grants Scheme via European Social Fund funding (ESF).
CHESS’s new project will provide its homeless clients with experience of real-life working situations to support them to build the experience they need to find work, break the cycle of homelessness and empower them back into independent living. The programme will support clients to develop self-confidence, dignity, self-worth, independence, and all clients completing the programme will receive a recognised qualification.
Rob Saggs, Chief Executive Officer at CHESS Homeless, said: “We’re excited about this opportunity to develop this programme of training and employment opportunity to the homeless. Last year 157 individuals passed through CHESS’s other projects. Of those 157 people, only 12 individuals managed to gain a form of employment. This programme seeks to address that issue.“Being in a position to see the impact education and employment make to some of the most vulnerable in society is such a privilege. We often take for granted the simple things in life – like being able to apply for a job, having a CV completed, completing forms and then being able to accept the challenge of a new job with a supportive network of friends, and family around you.“Now with this funding we will be able to offer this experience to a number of homeless people who would not ordinarily be in the position to accept this help.”
CHESS Homeless is a charity working with street homeless people by providing outreach, accommodation, support, training and pathways to employment. The charity provides an ‘end to end service’ to single homeless adults.
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To find out more about CHESS Homeless, visit their website.
