After being at Woolstencroft for a number of months, the Life Ready project started and Josh found out about it through talking to Georgie and to the Housing Engagement workers.
Before Josh came to YMCA Norfolk, he had lived with a foster family for a few years. He left them when he was 18 and privately rented. He was unable to afford that long term so he moved to a different town and lived on a couple of traveller sites. After moving round Peterborough for a bit, sofa surfing for a while. He couldn’t settle in Peterborough as he had no connections so he went to the council who placed him at the YMCA in he wanted more stability so
Journey with YMCA Norfolk:
To begin with, Josh didn’t join in with Life Ready a great deal. He had some issues at the hostel which almost resulted in him being evicted. After successfully appealing his eviction, Josh engaged more with Life Ready, helping him to gain skills and experiences that will help him when he moves out in the near future.
Josh has joined in with some of the social sessions at the hostel such as quizzes and has also joined in with a variety of drop-in sessions with external visitors such as the Matthew Project and the Wild Hub. He signed up with the Matthew Project, which enabled him to join in with a slow cooker session, that resulted in him being able to keep the slow cooker at the end of the session.
One of the Personal Development sessions he came on was a tour of Purfleet (local housing provider and well-being service). As a result, during a 1:1 coaching session, Georgie took him back to Purfleet to go through their sign-up process. Now he can access all of their free support and activities after he leaves the hostel, including help with furniture, access to counselling and future advice on many issues if he needs it, as well as free social groups if he wants to participate.
Josh has joined in other Personal Development sessions such as a “Food Bank Challenge,” to ensure he knows how to access a Food Bank if he needs one, as well as registering with Boost to enable him to participate in sessions that they have run at the hostel, such as a CV workshop and a session on bike repair and maintenance with Black Cat Cycles. Josh was a great participant in all of these, engaging fully and these things have improved how he has been spending his time at the hostel.
Josh has engaged with 1:1 coaching sessions, which have enabled him to take better care of his health and start to think about his future. This has included him being supported to make and attend an optician’s appointment, where he got new glasses so can see much better! This also included beginning to take on some qualifications that might help him to get a job he is interested in. He went with Georgie to look round the Construction Hub and she helped him to sign up for a Basic Carpentry and Joinery Course, which he attended once a week for 4 weeks, with another resident, resulting in him learning the skills to make a stool, and passing the course. Josh has now signed up for another free course with the same provider – basic bricklaying.
About the future:
Josh has done a great job of saving up to move out of the hostel and has proven himself mature and able to manage a tenancy when he leaves. He hopes to get a bidding number for a council flat and move out in the next couple of months.
Josh hopes to continue to take free courses in various trades and would like to complete CSCS card training so that he can gain a job working on a building site when he moves out.
“It has been helpful to be persuaded to join in with things I wouldn’t have done otherwise, that I know will help me later on in life when I leave the hostel.”
Name has been changed to protect the resident’s identity.