Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity has been awarded a £74,769 grant by The Access Foundation.

Over 121,000 young people asked for help with homelessness issues last year. Centrepoint provides homeless young people with accommodation, health support and life skills to help get them back into education, training and employment.

The grant from The Access Foundation will support the rollout of a programme with Centrepoint to help young people in the North East attain the Essential Digital Skills Qualification (EDSQ). This is a recognised accredited qualification which enables young people to achieve up-to-date and relevant skills.

During the pandemic, it became evident that a significant proportion of homeless young people were digitally excluded. With the move to online learning and access to benefits, banking etc, many young people found themselves without a suitable device, the necessary data connection and limited or no digital skills.

The Access Foundation is committed to bridging the digital divide, this funding will directly benefit young people who have limited or no digital skills, by giving them the confidence to perform tasks online such as job searching and online applications, improving their overall employment prospects.

It will also help boost their chances to progress into other training opportunities and potential employment in IT such as coding, software development and digital marketing.  

Centrepoint Operations Manager North, commented:

“Centrepoint is delighted to receive this grant from The Access Foundation, which will directly benefit the young people we work with in the North East by improving their digital skills and supporting them to get into work, or access further training opportunities”