Your volunteers with lived experience are already making a difference. Help them take the next step!
Our landmark Mapping the Homelessness Workforce research discovered:
- Volunteering was the second biggest route into the sector
- Personal experience of homelessness was the fifth most common reason that people joined the sector (13%)
- One quarter of staff reported having lived experience of homelessness
This suggests that people with lived experience of homelessness, who bring vital skills and insight to the sector, are driven to join the homelessness workforce. Yet they face specific, compounding barriers that prevent many from progressing into paid roles. This presents an opportunity for organisations to offer development opportunities.
To support everyone in the process, Homeless Link is launching Future Foundations, a new training programme co-designed with frontline organisations and people with lived experience of homelessness.
The programme will help sector volunteers with lived experience of homelessness envision where a career in homelessness could go and build the confidence, resilience, skills and knowledge required for those paid positions.
At Homeless Link, we know managerial and organisational support is a key driver of success of lived experience staff retention. Therefore, Future Foundations will also train the delegates' managers to provide the right support along their journey and even offer support to organisations to establish pathways to paid employment and further best practice advice.
We're looking for organisations across England to join our first cohort. To be eligible for the programme, your organisation needs to:
- deliver homelessness services
- put forward a manager who oversees volunteers with lived experience
- nominate a volunteer with lived experience as a delegate
- be willing to explore a paid role for them when the programme ends
We specifically encourage people from marginalised communities, particularly Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, LGBTQIA+ community, and people with disabilities, to apply.
Wondering if this course is right for you? Please email Rachel Bryan at rachel.bryan@homelesslink.org.uk to organise an open and friendly chat. We value everyone’s questions and look to support in any way we can.
Applications open Monday 16 November and close Wednesday 16 December.
Please visit our Future Foundations webpage for more information.
