Homeless schemes awarded £8,000 from National Lottery's 'Award For All'

New Progress Housing Association’s purpose-built housing schemes in Preston City Centre and Chorley, for young people and adults experiencing homelessness, have been awarded a grant of £8,260 from the National Lottery’s ‘Awards for All’ fund.

The grant has been awarded for six new PCs with software packages, four laptops with software packages, internet equipment and installation, internet subscription, two combination printers, built-in desks, six chairs and an overhead projector.

The grant was applied for after consultations with residents revealed an overwhelming desire for access to a computer and the internet.

The computer suites will be open to all service users at both schemes, giving them the opportunity to use equipment they would otherwise not have access to.

Foundations Project Manager, Karen Little, said: “We consulted with our residents, who told us that they felt that in order to gain employment, basic IT skills are needed. Some of our young residents who want to go back to college feel that access to a computer and the internet would greatly assist them when researching assignments and completing course work. It was for these reasons that we applied for the grant.

“Residents are allowed to use the internet for personal use but we do monitor it and we have security functions on each computer. We will also be running internal basic IT courses with residents, enabling them to gain the extra qualifications that will assist them, not only when applying for jobs, but in their day-to-day lives.

“They are proving to be very popular and a great investment.”