The 170 adult trainees currently supported at their Langley Moor complex - their ages ranging from late teens to pensionable age - have taken up supervised woodwork training five days a week, opted for developing cooking skills twice weekly or, more recently, been offered places on accredited cookery courses with similar accreditation in woodwork also to be offered soon.
“Our aims are to reach the most marginalised people in society by working alongside them to help them take the first steps towards turning their lives around by overcoming the barriers they face – whatever they may be.
“We offer tailored training opportunities, including accredited courses, to build confidence and nurture the coping strategies they need to reach their individual goals. Alongside this we offer a limited chance of supported housing in County Durham, Sunderland and Gateshead,” said Lorraine Jones, the Durham Project Manager.
“All adults are welcomed at our free sessions, regardless of their background, history or current struggles. Many have poor mental and physical health, others a history of homelessness, crime, addiction, long-term unemployment and domestic abuse, or are simply seeking community to combat isolation,” she added.
The £5,000 gift from the freemen’s charitable trustees will help underpin further development of the ground-floor woodwork workshop and training kitchen as well as new areas on the first floor.
At ground level a new community room will offer an informal welcoming space for visitors and newcomers, as well as a designated area for trainees to sit together as a community to take their daily hot meal, which is free.
The first-floor will become a multi-purpose home to a range of new course ideas. Headings currently under consideration are employability, digital and craft skills, budgeting, barbering, pottery, literacy and numeracy, as well as therapeutic and creative activities.
“Supported by recently acquired funding and the generosity of the freemen we are very excited at the possibilities these new spaces will bring and the challenges and opportunities they could create for both our skilled staff and our attendees,” said Lorraine.
The freemen’s gift will help buy tables, chairs and informal seating in the new ground floor community room, as well as the installation of a hot water boiler system giving attendees the chance to make their own hot drinks. On the multi-purpose first floor, classroom chairs, tables and a projector and screen for teaching purposes will also be included. Decoration and flooring will also make both new areas warm and welcoming spaces for everyone.
Eric Bulmer, chairman of the charitable trust said: “We are pleased to support a project which will assist individuals on the margins of our society build confidence and coping skills delivered through training adapted specifically for them.”
