Quarriers helps the homeless find jobs
9th November 2004
Homeless young people need most help in finding jobs, a new survey from Scots charity Quarriers reveals today.
But staff at the Quarriers AIM Project said the survey showed that the help young people needed was often not the help they originally came looking for. The survey - carried out by the charity's AIM Project, which gives homeless young people the skills they need to get on in life - showed a massive 58 per cent of assistance was with job-hunting, job application forms, form-filling, training and college.
AIM Project Manager Rachel Sawyer said: "Once we start to explore what their real needs are, we often agree together that where we can best help is with things like CVs and job applications."
She added that other areas where youngsters were not aware of the level of assistance they might need were confidence-building, social skills and IT skills.
The survey also found that one of the biggest barriers to getting a job was homelessness - with housing issues also a major area where young people helped by AIM required assistance.
Sawyer said: "It is a bit of a Catch 22 - it's hard to get a job if you're homeless and difficult to get a home if you don't have a job."
The statistics show that more young men than women - a massive 75 per cent of clients seen - sought help with basic skills for life and work.
And a total of 75 per cent of all clients seen were on government benefits like Income Support or Job Seekers' Allowance, while only four per cent said they supported themselves through earnings.
The AIM Project was set up in the south side of Glasgow to give residents at two of Quarriers' neighbouring hostels for young homeless in the city the skills they needed to progress on to further education and employment.
The two hostels, Stopover and the James Shields Project, provide accommodation for young people aged between 16 and 25.
The AIM project took shape after Quarriers found a strong link between homelessness and problems with literacy and numeracy.
Ms Sawyer said: "Safe and secure temporary accommodation is vital for homeless young people - but what we also want to do is to help them break the cycle that increases their chances of being homeless and unemployed.
"We want more than a band aid solution - we want to help them acquire the skills that will lead them into the world of work and ultimately into a place of their own."
Quarriers was established more than a century ago in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, to provide homes for for orphaned and destitute children from the Glasgow area. The charity no longer runs orphan homes, but provides care for children, teenagers, families and adults at 85 projects in more than 100 locations across Scotland.
Services include support and care for children and adults with physical or learning difficulties. Quarriers also cares for children and families facing issues like poverty and disadvantage and provides a range of services for young people with social emotional or behavioural problems. The charity also has the only residential epilepsy assessment centre in Scotland.
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