A group of unemployed young people from Burnley and Pendle have volunteered to make a positive impact in their local community, by helping to paint and decorate rooms at homelessness charity Emmaus Burnley.
The youngsters are currently completing The Prince’s Trust Team Programme with Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service, to give them employability and teamwork skills as well as building their confidence for the future. During the 12-week course, they have been fundraising, helping communities and building their skills to help them find work.
The team of 11 young people chose this project because they felt that homeless people often don’t get the respect that they deserve and that people often have misconceptions and pre-judge them for the circumstances that have led to them being on the streets in the first place.
Chantelle Hood, aged 17 and from Nelson is one of the young people involved in the project.
Chantelle said: “We wanted to show homeless people that there are people in their community that care about them. We hope that the work we have done will provide them with an opportunity to stay off the streets and help them get the support they need at Emmaus to move on with their lives.
“It’s been great getting to know some of the companions at Emmaus and they are very kind and friendly people. We also hope that we have set an example to the rest of the community that it’s good to help others in need and that there are always people that are dealing with issues and whose circumstances are worse than our own.”
Emmaus Burnley supports formerly homeless people by providing them with a stable home and meaningful work for as long as they need it. The charity operates two social enterprises in Burnley and Accrington with all the money raised used to support the community of people who live and work at Emmaus Burnley.
Stephen Buchanan, Director of Emmaus Burnley, said: “We’re extremely grateful to the young people on the Prince’s Trust Team Programme for the hard work and kind support they have given to Emmaus Burnley. It has been a pleasure to welcome them to our community. We would also like to thank the team at Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service for supporting the young people and overseeing the community project.”
The Prince’s Trust will help 56,000 disadvantaged young people this year, giving them the confidence and skills to turn their lives around. Three in four young people on Prince’s Trust schemes move into work, education or training.
