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The Spitalfields Crypt Trust • Introduction • The Crypt • Our Clients Ongoing projects and Initiatives • Drop-In Centre • Acorn House • Downham Lodge • Bridge House Fundraising • Charity Shops • How You Can Help • Volunteering Future Plans • Training and Education Centre Links • Hanbury Community Project |
Training and Education Centre Plans are now quite well advanced, and we have recently been looking at preliminary drawings from our architects. We have made the first payment towards the lease, and we are still fundraising for the additional money that we need. We are greatful to CRASH, the charity of the Construction and Property Industry, who have committed to asist us with this project. The initial vision was that it would seek to meet the needs of former, current and future residents and students but it has quickly become apparent that there are many other people who could and would like to benefit from the courses we will be offering. Many of the clients we currently work with have very few of the basic skills many of us take for granted, skills that we have learned over the years simply by exposure to the multitude of everyday experiences that we consider to be quite normal. Our clients are mainly comprised of people in recovery from alcohol and drug problems, those with a recent history of homelessness, long-term unemployment and/or serious long-term ill-health. Some of our clients have hardly ever worked; others have had an untold number of jobs, all lost or given up because of addictions of one sort or another, or simply because of a lack of employment-related or other life skills. Now, on average aged 35-50, they face a bleak, empty and hopeless future. Many of them do not have the practical skills needed to cope well in the world of work as it is, nor the confidence to develop them in existing places of learning. Furthermore, many lack the basic skills they require to maintain their own homes. This condemns them to living in run down and sometimes even dangerous accommodation. Our vision for this project partly began in our Charity Shops, where we were being given tables and chairs, which, whilst being perfectly sound, really needed a fresh coat of varnish or paint. We realised that this sort of activity would not only be very interesting for some, but also very practical and beneficial in lots of ways. The idea began to develop, until we realised that there are lots of things that we could teach people, some of which could lead to genuine employment opportunities. Today, our vision for the Training Centre has developed to include short training courses on:- ·Painting and decorating ·Furniture repairs and restoring ·Gardening ·Literacy ·Introduction to Carpentry ·Introduction to Electrical appliances ·Introduction to Plumbing ·Stencilling (Walls and Furniture) ·Arts and Crafts ·Painting Techniques ·Advanced Carpentry/Finishing Our experience is that many of our our clients are very amenable to the idea of getting involved in worthwhile and interesting activities. The enormous variation that exists in the abilities and interests of clients, requires a wide range of activities from which to choose. The Training and Education Centre will provide a wide range of opportunities for involvement, which can be tailored to the practical and intellectual abilities of the clients. There will be opportunities for learning new skills, or brushing up on old ones. It is for this reason that we are confident that this essentially practical element to our programme will be a most successful and effective one. The opportunity to purchase the lease for the ground floor of Acorn House has arisen, so the idea is an exciting and realistic one. We have mounted a major fundraising exercise in order to pay for the lease, and we are confident that some of those major Trusts that helped us to develop Acorn House, will assist us to get this Project off the ground as well. |
| Copyright © 2002, Graham Marshall, The Spitalfields Crypt Trust, (Contact) |