Introduction to Foyers
A foyer is a place where young people can live and receive training, employment advice, personal support and motivation.
As young people move to adulthood a space of their own, naturally, becomes important. Too many leave home unprepared or enter relationships as a means of moving on. Sometimes the effect can be serious and damaging. A Foyer provides an intermediate step on the road to full independence. A Foyer provides preparation for employment and independent living. A Foyer respects and encourages young people and helps to fully integrate them into Society.
In each community where a Foyer is established it will provide an initial contact point for young people seeking advice and assistance. This should apply to young people living in the Foyer and those from the surrounding community. All young residents in the Foyer will be involved in training or early stages of employment or be able to demonstrate that they are actively seeking such.
A Foyer will seek to establish and earn the respect of the wider community. It will be mainstream and normal and young people should be proud to participate in its activities. A Foyer will encourage young people to help one another and encourage community responsibility and citizenship. All Foyers will be wheelchair accessible and contribute to integration of young people with physical disabilities into mainstream society.
The Foyer aims to develop employment opportunities among young people who have a history of having been able to obtain only very low paid, part-time, or temporary jobs; and who are also without secure, safe and suitable accommodation (either homeless or at risk of becoming so). The intention is to work with these young people in a holistic way, paying attention to their social and development needs in addition to providing them with employment-related training and experience of paid work. In order to be accepted into the Foyer, the young people will have to be motivated to benefit from the experience, and show that they are willing to put effort into improving their situation.
In addition to the direct benefit to its young residents, the Foyer aims to benefit the community, both by increasing the amount of supported accommodation available to young people in the area, and by contributing to the local economy by increasing the numbers of young workers with transferable skills to meet local employment needs. It will also seek contribution to job creation through the business start-up units and develop an effective relationship with the local business community.
In order to operate successfully, it is vitally important that Foyers are well keyed into its local community, and that the local community representatives are involved in overseeing both its development and operation. Foyers provide Community facilities such as café, meeting rooms, exhibition areas and lecture theatres.
Ideally Foyers should be based in the centre of towns and cities. Key factors to be considered for location are:-
A Foyer is a low cost housing mode providing intermediate/temporary accommodation. A Mini-Foyer should contain approximately 50 units, lecture theatre, training rooms & Community Café.
Emphasis is placed on communal activity. A range of flexible multi-purpose rooms for meetings, socialising, training and individual consultation must be provided. Appropriate office space for staff must be available. Emphasis is also placed on access and personal security.
The target group would generally be young people aged 18-25 who are in housing need or homeless and in training or the early stage of their career, whose access to secure affordable accommodation will afford the opportunity to finish their training/Apprenticeship etc.
Applications will be considered from young people who are aged between 18 and 25 who have sufficient life skills to live in a low-support environment. Applicants must possess the ability and motivation to benefit from the Foyer’s services and be willing to commit to a contract, embodying a commitment to enter into training and seek employment and to abide by the rules of the Foyer.
Young people seeking to be accommodated in the Foyer should be fit for work or able, by means of the Foyer’s services, to become fit for work. They must be willing to commit to the individual Personal Development Plan. Applicants should fall within the criteria of the following categories.
a) Employment /Training Need
In employment that is low paid and wish to improve their situation via training.
Generally the residents of a foyer can stay for up to 3 years. They will have a personal development plan with individual achievement milestones included.
Some examples of referalls accepted by Foyers include: