Help us to raise £85,000 to keep our new learning pathway, Re-set, open so that we can offer even more ways for the homeless to fulfil their potential.

Sadly, this quote succinctly describes the early life experiences of many vulnerable adults we work with here at SSJ. Many dealt with chronic parental conflict, substance misuse, child abuse and/or domestic abuse/violence in childhood.

It is hardly surprising therefore that as adults, these individuals feel completely disenfranchised from anything that resembles education, when, as children, the backdrop for these negative experiences was having to go to school every day, in a state of stress and anxiety, and face the consequences of their resulting poor behaviour.

In our experience, some of these adults have undiagnosed learning difficulties or behavioural conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Obsessive-compulsive Disorder that were likely apparent during childhood furthering their disenfranchisement of education.

Why is providing a learning pathway important to fulfilling SSJs purpose?

Clearly providing a roof over the head of someone who has been homeless is of primary importance however, to realise eventual independence we must provide a lot more support than just bricks and mortar. They need the tools to grow their self-belief, self-esteem and the basic life skills necessary to helping them to fulfil their potential, and to do this they need to be open to learning.

Many of our residents had poor experiences at school and have limited qualifications. Some do not believe that they could gain qualifications, in spite of being reasonably intelligent. We also know that expecting an adult to attend a college full of 16- and 17-year olds is not going to work.

Re-set will offer a path for our learners, beginning with specific courses which can be completed in a matter of days, e.g. health and safety and food hygiene, to get people into the habit of learning and to prove it is possible. These can then lead on to other learning, with longer and more advanced courses such as basic literacy and numeracy.

The difference however is in the delivery. Our tutors will use fun and interesting activities to engage people and will offer learning in an environment that feels safe and comfortable to them. Learning will be at a pace dictated by the learner and it will be delivered in a manner that is sensitive to the often-chaotic lifestyles of the individuals we work with.

How can the community get involved?

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous philanthropist we are able to launch Re-set in 2023. After the first year however; we will need to raise £85K per year to continue the project. Please give what you can, any amount is helpful. Just £15/month could support 1 hr of education per month for someone

What next?

In 2024, SSJ will be opening its new Academy doors to provide sport & leisure activity, learning, volunteering and employment pathways for individuals that we support who have a history of homelessness and other support needs. The Academy will bring together our existing sport activity (Re-Fit), volunteering and employment (Pathways) and our new learning project (Re-set) under one umbrella and one team offering a choice of easily accessible and meaningful activities for all our service users and residents.