Depaul UK Education Programme

The Pitch

Problem statement

Depaul’s Homelessness Prevention Team consulted with young people to hear about their experiences at school and what areas they think the education programme should focus on. Our young beneficiaries unanimously agreed that education around homelessness would have been useful in school. They also highlighted the importance of addressing topics linked to homelessness, such as relationships and mental health. Max, a young person who experienced rough sleeping before being supported by Depaul’s services, told us: “People need to go into schools and talk about it. If someone had come to my school when I was younger, I might not have gone through what I did.”

Solution

The project’s goal is to prevent young people from homelessness, with focus on schools with above average percentages of free school meals. Through whole year workshops and targeted sessions for students identified by safeguarding leads, the project uses digital media and creative techniques to build knowledge of homelessness and related issues: relationships, family breakdown, exploitation and abuse, safe choices, and mental wellbeing. The aim is develop resilience and support young people to make informed decisions. £2,000 could support us to deliver 8 whole-year workshops to students at higher risk of homelessness due to financial hardship, reaching approximately 1,200 young people.

Why are we best placed to deliver?

Depaul has over thirty years’ experience delivering front-line prevention services. Our experience, reputation, and connections allow us to reach young people with complex needs and offer impactful support. In 2022, we reached 5,000 students through the Education programme, and 90% of our clients with a need relating to family breakdown reported improved family relationships. We have four established ‘hubs’ in London, Manchester, Sheffield, and Whitley Bay, with prevention services running across the UK for nearly a decade. These years have been hugely successful, delivering prevention support to thousands of young people each year.

Focus Areas

Delivery plan

Budget breakdown

Beneficiaries

1,200 people

Expected impact

Our impact will be measured by assessing student feedback against the following statements: 1. Young people have an improved understanding of homelessness and its causes 2. Young people are better able to access support when they need it 3. Young people are better able to articulate, understand and manage their feelings 4. Young people have a better understanding of ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ characteristics of relationships 5. Young people have improved ability to manage conflict 6. Young people have an improved ability to keep themselves safe in potentially harmful situations We will also measure outcomes in terms of our wraparound offer to our prevention services, setting up referral pathways to our Reconnect family mediation service and Nightstop emergency accommodation service. We will measure this quantitatively by number of referrals between services.

Track record

Recent quotes from Education Programme delivery state that ‘the young people absolutely related to the examples, understood the situations and where to get help’, ‘the video clips were very engaging, it’s good for students to hear young people’s voices’, and ‘this was genuinely one of the best outside speakers we’ve had – thank you. It really opened their eyes about hidden homelessness and made them think.’ Furthermore, the statistics from the first year of the Education Programme indicate that: 80% of young people had a better understanding of how young people become homeless; 79% said they knew how to keep themselves safe if they didn’t have somewhere stable to live; 76% said that the session made them more likely to get help if they were ever faced with homelessness; 100% of teachers who provided feedback were satisfied with the workshop; and 98% of teachers who provided feedback said they were likely to recommend the programme to other schools.