Helping homeless people back into work

"If you’ve been homeless it can count against you when going for a job. Most people we support want to work but their past is held against them.

There’s a myth that if you have been homeless you’re probably low skilled, but that’s not true.

A range of skills and experience

Former bankers, university lecturers, and film industry professionals are just some of the people we’ve worked with. There’s such a wide range of experience and expertise.

It’s important that people are recovered from the trauma of sleeping rough before getting a job. We help them to overcome this trauma and rebuild their confidence.

Support to return to work

When they feel ready to return to work, we give them the support do it. This can include CV writing workshops and job interview training.

Most importantly, we’ll help them get where they want to go. If somebody wants to get back into an old career or retrain for a new one, we’ll help them take the necessary steps to do so.

Recently, we helped someone with a stone masonry background gain employment with Canterbury Cathedral.

We also work with businesses. Often, they don’t realise just how much talent and expertise they can access by considering people supported by Porchlight."

Workwise is our award-winning programme of training and support to help people gain employment and fulfil their potential.

It helps them overcome issues and start a journey of personal development, improving their work-readiness. This includes increasing their confidence, interpersonal skills and communication, CVs, ability to search and apply for jobs, interview performance and general professionalism.

Our Workwise sponsors help by providing funding for this programme. Many also offer valuable work placements that enable people to enhance their skills and experience.