Homeless women earn passport to independence

Saturday 4th February 2012

A new project is helping homeless women in Winsford gain the necessary life skills to live independent lives.

Cotswold House - which is run by Weaver Vale Housing Trust - has introduced the 'Passport to Independence' which the women fill out detailing the training they have completed.

"Every day our support workers provide the women at Cotswold House with a wide range of training and advice on how to live independently and the passport will enable the residents to document everything they've learned so they can use it as evidence when applying for tenancy with landlords," said Debbie Skilling, from Weaver Vale Housing Trust's Supporting People Team.

"So the residents get the most out of the project we also try to make the passport flexible and work with them to add in any new topics or skills they would like to learn more about."

Cotswold House offers accommodation, education and training to homeless women aged between 16 and 35 in West Cheshire.

Topics covered in the Passport to Independence include daily living skills such as washing clothes and cooking as well as budgeting money and how to be a good neighbour.

Each resident's passport is completed with supervision from a support worker and certificates are given out for each section which are then included in their personal record of achievement.

Michelle Jennings, 26, who has been living at Cotswold House for eight months, was one of the first residents to work through the passport.

"Working through the passport gives you a lot of motivation because you feel like with every section you're getting closer to the goal of your own home," she said.

"It has also been nice encouraging others to complete their passports. We all help to encourage each other and it gives you a real sense of achievement."

In 2007 the Trust successfully applied for a £309,908 grant from the National Lottery's Big Lottery Fund to help improve services for the residents at Cotswold House.

Money from the grant has funded the Passport to Independence project and has also been used to fund a resettlement worker and a training coordinator.

Posted by 0 for Weaver Vale Housing Trust Ltd.