Fair Chance, Rewriting Futures

Delivering support and community engagement to reduce youth homelessness in the West Midlands.

  • Department for Communities & Local Government

  • Cabinet Office

  • St Basils

  • Social Finance UK

  • Location

    West Midlands

  • Launch

    Jan 2015

  • Area

    Education, Employment & Housing

Collaborators & funding partners

  • Cabinet Office

  • Department for Communities & Local Government

Delivery Partners

  • St Basils

  • Social Finance UK

Team

Collaborators & funding partners

  • Cabinet Office

  • Department for Communities & Local Government

Delivery Partners

  • St Basils

  • Social Finance UK

  • Andrew Levitt

    Co-Founder and Executive Director of Operations, Innovation and Learning

    Andrew is Co-Founder of Bridges Outcomes Partnerships and Executive Director of Operations, Innovation and Learning. He is a Director of Kirklees Better Outcomes Partnership, GM Homes Partnership, Homelessness Support, the Single Homeless Prevention Service and is a Trustee of West London Zone.

    Prior to Bridges, Andrew was Managing Director of a social enterprise “Baobab” in Madagascar, and a non-Executive board member of two other financial inclusion social enterprises, in Senegal and China.

Overview

Fair Chance, Rewriting Futures provided support and community engagement to young people in need in the West Midlands region.

This is a group of individuals who regularly fall through the net of public service provision and who can, if not supported effectively, go on to have significantly worse life outcomes and cost the state a significant amount in lifetime costs.

The Fair Chance, Rewriting Futures programme – delivered by specialist youth homelessness charity St Basils in Birmingham – has supported young people who are homeless and NEET (not in employment, education or training) into stable accommodation, education and employment.

The three-year-long service provided wrap-around support, guidance and training to help these young people to live independent lives and sustain positive life outcomes. Its core delivery team worked with a larger group of ‘community coaches’, from a range of backgrounds and professions, enabling it to match young people with an appropriate community coach, thereby providing a relevant and supportive link into education, employment and the community.

Outcomes

Fair Chance, Rewriting Futures worked with 351 homeless and NEET young people from Birmingham, Coventry, Walsall, Wyre Forest and Solihull. 83% of the cohort moved into accommodation, among other important positive outcomes.

  • 351

    Starts to the programme

  • 90

    Students obtain Level 1 qualification

  • 290

    Secured accommodation

  • £1.6m

    Outcomes achieved

  • Bristol DfE Care Leavers

    Helping care leavers who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) to live independent and fulfilling lives.

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  • Fair Chance, Your Chance

    Preventing youth homelessness through intensive, tailored, flexible counselling and guidance in Manchester and Greenwich.

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