It’s not just about finding a roof over your head. If you’ve been homeless you often need to learn new skills or brush up on old ones if you’re looking for a job. Livingstone House in Willesden (north west London) is one of many projects that we support which give residents opportunities to learn all the necessary life-skills that they will need to make a successful transition to independent living in their own accommodation. One of these is IT skills – so vital in the modern world with many companies expecting job applications to be submitted online, and with use of the internet vital for looking for accommodation, updating CVs, applying for courses or researching areas of interest.

Thanks to the generosity of a number of charitable trusts Church Housing Trust was able to raise sufficient funding to equip an IT suite at Livingstone House. This is now well-used by residents who enjoy its benefits for educational, practical and social purposes.

Steve Holdsworth, Trust Fundraising Manager at Church Housing Trust, commented “Many of the residents at schemes like this don’t have the computer skills needed in the jobs market today. There are lots of people who are nervous with computers, and on-site IT Suites like the one at Livingstone House really give them the confidence to gain those skills. We are enormously grateful to our supporters for making this possible.”

Livingstone House provides temporary accommodation for 92 homeless and vulnerable men and women with a variety of needs. Some residents have had alcohol or substance misuse problems, some have mental health problems. Others have become homeless through family breakdown, and some are ex-offenders.