Help fund course to open doors for the homeless of Scunthorpe
A project that helps equip homeless youngsters in North Lincolnshire with the skills needed to hold down a tenancy agreement is in desperate need of funding.
The Opening Doors project has been running for the last two years at The Lighthouse in Scunthorpe.
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A homeless man living on the streets
The homeless base on Frodingham Road is expected to see an increase in the number of young people coming through its doors in the coming months, as various factors – including dropping out of college – push over-16s to leave their family home in search of their own accommodation.
David Wooldridge, manager of the Lighthouse, is currently trying to raise £5,000 to continue to run a programme aimed at teaching youngsters survival skills for living independently – to reduce the likelihood of them being kicked out onto the street.
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"We do a free course called Opening Doors," said Mr Wooldridge. "It equips young people with the skills needed to hold down a tenancy because many young people have never had their own place before and without those skills they might quickly find themselves homeless from a property.
"We are currently seeking funding for it. It's run through the New Life Church and we need about £5,000, which is not that much.
"The course teaches them all sorts, ranging from helping them to prioritise bills to showing them what to expect on moving in day, like putting up curtain rails – teaching them all different life skills, making them appealing to landlords."
Seventy people have benefited from the course and it gives those who successfully complete it a qualification which proves they are good tenants.
But as some youngsters find new accommodation, their departure from The Lighthouse makes way for new arrivals.
One youngster told how he is looking to move onwards and upwards when he completes the course.
He said he had been involved in crime since the age of 12, left his parents home after a fight with his dad and was put into foster care. A year ago found himself on the streets and turned to The Lighthouse for help. The young man, who did not wish to be named, said: "The course has made me ready to be independent.
"I got bad exam results but I have since started a joinery course at college and I'm really enjoying it. Things are looking up."
To help The Lighthouse reach its £5,000 target, simply text LTHSO1 followed by the amount you wish to donate to 70070. Over-18s only.




Comments
by englander61
Tuesday, November 13 2012, 11:53PM
“Its the governments fault , flooding the country with migrant workers leaving no jobs in factory's , immigration another fail or , asylum One man now cost tax payers 5 million a year because we cannot deport him just the tip of the ice berg , then giving millions in aid when we need it here . pouring millions into EU . bill of human rights costing more millions mostly working against the people of this country , We get little benefit from the taxes we pay , The EU wanting more means the working classes getting less . Expect more people living on the streets . Its about time the working class woke up and started to protest we have become a weak race , believing what our governments tell us propaganda rules . The next time we go to vote give the smaller more patriotic party's a chance , You saying they don't have a chance and not voting is taking that chance away , So don't moan when things go wrong its you own fault for not believing you can make a diffidence you are weak and cowardly so be prepared to be ruled over rather than governed .”
by Paranoid61
Sunday, November 11 2012, 12:11PM
“When the coalition social cleansing bedroom tax kicks in next spring ,people are advised to move into a two bed one bed property to helpease their financial situation . That may be the case if they do so in the social housing sector ,which i bet can't re house all the teants who will suffer thus some may consider a private landlord who will baware of all the new changes and charge considerably more than NLH for a 2/1 bedroom property leaving the tenant who jumps from the frying pan into the fire still having to pay ashort fall in rent. At least when they are suffering they will be bouyed up by the fact that we are all in this together. Only It is 906 days, 11 hours, 49 minutes, 0 seconds untill the nasty party have to face the electorate.”
by SisterWendy9
Sunday, November 11 2012, 10:44AM
“If you added up all the floor space taken up by the cults of New Life, Pentecostal, Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons in their churches and meeting halls, you'd have everything you needed to take people off the streets at night in the winter. Funny how there's never any room at the inn.”
by scabs
Sunday, November 11 2012, 10:06AM
“join the fight against this tory bedroom tax now, SCUNTHORPE CAMPAIN AGAINST BENEFIT SANCTIONS. watch this space...”
by SisterWendy9
Saturday, November 10 2012, 11:30PM
“If the happy clappers who run this outfit are true Christians, they won't let anyone sleep on the street in this weather, they'll open up their homes to them.”
by povetyman
Saturday, November 10 2012, 10:10PM
“Filbert that is a great point there are many jobs on the steel works people could be trained to do but dont have a chance because of all the double dippers.”
by povetyman
Saturday, November 10 2012, 10:07PM
“I am afraid this is something that has been getting worse and worse especially since the coalition took over central goverment and the tories started to run north lincs council, i have lived in scunthorpe all my life and have never ever seen so many homeless people as there are now.
Many people are going to face these problems once the goverment starts its scocial cleansing programs such as the bedroom tax and the poll tax2 in april 2013.”
by filbert
Saturday, November 10 2012, 2:01PM
“I think the government has got it wrong yet again. People should be encouraged to pack in work at pensionable age and let the jobs go to younger people, this would get a lot off benifits and get us back into the habit of 'leave school start work'.”
by HattyTood
Friday, November 09 2012, 4:17PM
“The Governments of the past have created this monster of 16 to 18 yr olds being 'invisible' to the system
It is extremely difficult for a 16 yr old to find work due to various laws about shiftworking, insurances, health & safety etc.
These 16 to 18 yr olds are also (to my limited knowledge) unable to receive any kind of unemployment benefit . . . something which also removes them from the unemployed figures.
Almost the only option open to them is the Further Education scheme, which in reality teaches very little to prepare them for the virtually guaranteed unemployment when they reach the end of their 2 year course in Media Studies or whatever.
The females can survive by getting pregnant . . house, furniture & cash provided, no questions asked”
by JohnJohn2011
Friday, November 09 2012, 12:58PM
“Look we do not as a society / a nation / an employer / a government or a private individual need to be constantly funding courses for this and that, while we are on the subject we do not need to be subsidising some waste of time college or university courses also (just look at some of the care problems in the NHS). What we do need is for any person that is prepared to work to be given an adequate wage that allows them to support themselves thus allowing them to spend part of their earned wage in the community / country. It is no good an averagely intelligent person been given a very low paid job that requires a substantial tax credit that just gives the a few quid spare a week after paying all their weekly bills. What is the point of the tax payer subsidising some of these employers through the tax credit system only for the profits of these companies to go outside of the UK?
Most people just want a job (any job) that pays a fair wage for the work an individual does. Europe / USA and UK are broken and need to be repaired before it is too late. As a country all people have lots to offer. It was only last week when a rat was seen in an operating theatre which meant the highly paid highly educated team could not work due to the fact that the lowest paid and lowest funded bit had a failure. For example a doctor is generally very good and very well paid for what they do but I am sure most if not all could take less say 4k a year and that could be given to the lowest paid in the NHS. After all the price of bread is the same for both types of people when you go to the shops. I know it is not going to happen so we will keep sinking until we all go under.”