Charity for the Homeless applauded at inaugural Regional LSC Awards
Friday 9June 2006 - Tyneside Cyrenians’ imaginative, enlightened and sustained approach to tackling homelessness and ‘worklessness’ was give a massive boost last night. The Charity was awarded the ‘Pioneering Recruitment Award’ at the northern final of Learning & Skills Council’s inaugural regional awards which are designed to showcase achievement through learning and training
Recognised as one of the North East’s leading and most progressive homelessness charities, Tyneside Cyrenians saw off stiff competition from the National Health Service and Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service to claim the award.
Tyneside Cyrenians aims to recruit a previously vulnerable homeless person for one in four of all of its vacancies. To date, seventeen previously homeless individuals have been employed by the Charity. The retention rate for these employees is 100%. Stephen Bell, Chief Executive of Tyneside Cyrenians explained:
‘A significant number of our employees have had little or no work experience, may have previously been discriminated against within the employment sector and have struggled to find suitable employment opportunities.
‘We are delighted to receive this important Award in recognition of our work – especially in the light of the calibre of our competition; this morning we feel we have an insight into how David felt having beaten Goliath!’
Of the seventeen employees, eleven are currently employed as trainees working on the exciting ‘Self Build’ scheme launched in March this year and six are permanently employed within various departments of Tyneside Cyrenians.
The ‘Self Build’ scheme is believed to be a national first. The ‘Self-builders’ are employed by Tyneside Cyrenians on fixed employment contracts and are gaining skills used in the construction industry, working in unique partnership with Lumsden & Carroll, part of major regional construction company Esh Group. Stephen Bell continued:
‘Our aim, through this project, is to give our service users real work experience and a life changing opportunity. The skills they develop here really will be the key to a new life and will help them ‘get back on track.’ There is clear evidence that those taking part are benefiting from a sense of pride, raised self esteem and the prospect of a realistic chance of further employment.
The awards, the first staged by the new regional Learning & Skills Council and held in conjunction with the Newcastle Chronicle & Journal and the Evening Gazette, attracted over 350 entries. A southern area final will be held next week and the winners from each will go forward to the regional final on 13th July.
James Ramsbotham, Regional Chairman, Learning & Skills Council North East, said:
‘This is a great example of the importance of commitment and perseverance in learning and training; here the journey of these men is probably as important as the destination they are travelling to. Tyneside Cyrenians are to be congratulated on their vision and outstanding achievement.’
Chris Roberts, Regional Director, Learning & Skills Council North East, said:
‘I would like to congratulate Tyneside Cyrenians for their great achievement and innovative approach in dealing with what is, traditionally, a very challenging sector.
‘Training and skills development are crucial to the success of every organisation in the region and therefore its economic performance. By honouring and rewarding leading lights in the field we hope to encourage others to follow their example. I am delighted by the number and standard of entries for these our first regional awards.’
