News article
Crisis Skylight Merseyside celebrates first graduation
9 December 2011 | Topics: none
A special graduation ceremony took place on Monday 5 December at the Contemporary Urban Centre in Liverpool to mark a successful first term for Crisis Skylight Merseyside.
Crisis Skylight Merseyside is an education, training and employment outreach centre for homeless and vulnerably housed people in the area. Through creative and practical classes, the centre aims to give people the tools, confidence and skills to leave homelessness behind for good.
In its first eight weeks working with various partner organisations across Merseyside, the charity has seen 216 homeless and vulnerably housed people sign up, with over 500 separate participations in classes ranging from Art to Literacy and IT.
Kate Farrell, Director of Crisis Skylight Merseyside, said: "Though we've only been open for a couple of months, we're off to a running start. There are already more than 200 homeless and vulnerable people signed up to our classes. Over the coming months we hope to give many of them the support they need to leave homelessness behind for good. Sadly the research released today shows we're going to be needed more than ever in these hard times.
At the CUC event work created in Crisis' art classes was exhibited and Crisis tutors and clients talked about their experiences during the first term of operation. Certificates were awarded to clients for their achievements over the past eight weeks.
Matty, who lives in a hostel and is working with Clare, a Crisis Work and Learning coach, said: "I was looking for some direction in life and with Crisis I found that. I always wanted to be a personal trainer but that was always just a dream - now though with Clare's help it's closer to a reality. Everything's looking brighter for me now, I'm happy to be here."
The centre hopes to expand to offer a wider range of classes to more areas across Merseyside in the New Year
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