Lakehouse hosts Business In The Community visit to Thames Reach Academy

14 May 2012

On 3 May 2012 Thames Reach service users visited 29 Peckham Road as part of Business in the Community’s Get Ready! programme, which provides early back-to-work interventions for homeless people through collaboration with homelessness agencies and local businesses.

This Lakehouse project was chosen following high levels of positive feedback from a previous visit. This time around the group took part in a site tour, following a site induction which included a health and safety briefing.

There was plenty of information and advice on the training and employment opportunities within construction, particularly those available via Lakehouse and its training partner Building Lives. Junior Mentore, who was once homeless and unemployed, talked to the youngsters about his personal life experience and how he came to work for Lakehouse. The apprentices based at the Thames Reach Academy were also on hand to provide information on the different careers in construction.

Anne Willmot, Director of Business Action on Homelessness says: “We are very excited to be offering new ways for businesses to support the Government’s vision to end rough sleeping. Get Ready! is a truly collaborative enterprise, reliant on bringing together the expertise of homelessness agencies and business professionals to develop a programme of support to accelerate the journey from homelessness to sustained work.”

The programme is funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, and local and national business.