Art therapy for homeless people is very beneficial. Our current informal model, wherein clients come and go, choosing materials and subjects and working independently with limited input from staff, has proven very successful for many clients. However, we have identified a group of clients who lack confidence and would benefit from a more structured environment. Many of these clients are not work ready and it is important that we are able to engage them in more training courses.

Our project will engage a new group of marginalised service users in our Art Room. We have designed a structured teaching plan which will run for 6-8 weeks three times a year, taught by experienced tutors and ex-homeless volunteers who have been recruited through our Step Up programme. This will increase clients' confidence, accreditation will formally acknowledge their achievements, and the project will encourage them to engage with our employment and training service, Workspace.