MONITOR CHARITY
Supporting ‘ A New Future ’ IT Training for Residents
T he Nehemiah Project is a small charity in South London providing residential support to vulnerable men who have been marginalised as the result of addiction which has severely affected them , their families and the wider community . Our residents invariably report a history of multiple hardship and dysfunctional childhoods , mostly including care , abuse , domestic violence and other forms of familial dysfunction .
The Nehemiah Project runs a CBT-based programme that enables these men to break the cycle of addiction and consider the alternatives to homelessness and / or crime , and throughout the programme we provide the professional and life changing-support necessary to secure a new future . We equip our residents to change their lives and overcome opposition to that change .
At Nehemiah , 62 % of residents remain free from addiction , far exceeding the national average for remaining abstinent for a year ( 30 %). As far as we know , only 5 % of the men we have worked with in the last 5 years have re-offended . In comparison , nearly 50 % of released prisoners UK-wide re-offend within 12 months . In London this figure increases to 60 %.
We achieve these results through our quality Supported Housing Programme , comprising two stages : A New Future and Move-on . In 2015 , we worked with a total of 34 men , of these :
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� 29 came to us through-the-gate from prison
� 5 had been rough-sleeping
� All 34 report to have some kind of addiction
The WCIT Charity awarded us pro-bono IT support and a grant of £ 2,500 in 2015 for the purchase of computers to aid our Residents in their preparation for new lives free of addiction .
These computers are situated in the dining room , where the men use them for study , recreation and communication with friends and family . The provision of computers and internet access necessitated the introduction of a Computer and Email policy for our Residents , to help them understand the implications of social media and downloading , amongst other things . Many of the men we work with have had very little experience with using a computer , and have to start with the basics of how to log on , create an email account and how to create and save documents .
Every course of ‘ A New Future ’ IT training includes two sessions on looking for work , cv-writing and interviews . The January-April cohort of men were assisted in CV writing by a group of students from Enactus , and it made a huge difference to this group to be able to have personal time on the computers with each student . An unexpected use of the computers is Skype , which the men use to speak to family members in other parts of the UK , and abroad . This has proved very useful in reinforcing our Families Programme , where we seek to
reconcile residents with their families , and particularly estranged children .
Using these computers , one of our men VR , registered for the Prudential Ride London-Surrey 100 , drafted his own poster and flyer , and set up a JustGiving page . VR completed the ride on 31st July and raised £ 1,000 for Nehemiah .
VR explained : “ The Nehemiah Project gives great potential for self-development because it ’ s make or break yourself right there and then and it ’ s not just the first day you get here , it ’ s every day you ’ re left with your own life in your own hands .
The Nehemiah is the only thing that ’ s worked . I ’ m 49 , I ’ ve been using drugs since the age of fourteen but now I have been fourteen months clean .”
Of the 34 residents , 20 men engaged with the programme :
� 9 successfully graduated from Stage One and moved into Stage Two
� 7 moved-on positively from A New Future
� 4 are still residents of The Nehemiah Project .
The computers continue to be an invaluable resource for the men , from providing an educational platform in sessions of A New Future , to music while they clean the house , contact with families , and access to job-seeking websites . All of these functions contribute to strengthening the men ’ s recovery and making their future goals of independent living and employment more sustainable .
The majority of the men we work with feel that they would have re-offended had they not come to Nehemiah , so thank you to all the donors to the WCIT Charity , who have helped enable this step-change in the lives of the residents within the Nehemiah Project .
Contributed by Lorna Hawthorne , Fundraising Manager , The Nehemiah Project