Fresh Start Project
Supporting Women who are Homeless in St Helens & Liverpool
Our Vision - is to help women who are facing disadvantage to build the capacity to improve their life.
The Women We Work With - are residents in refuges in St Helens & Liverpool as they have been made homeless. The reasons why these women become homeless is varied, all have faced negative life experiences, including those that have faced:
- Domestic Violence
- Addiction
- Poor Mental Health
- Family breakdown
- Becoming pregnant
- Bereavement.
Our Team - Martin
Back in 2009 Martin experienced an all time low in his life, which resulted in him seeking help to address his addiction to illegal drugs and alcohol. For the last 10 years, Martin with the support of his family and friends, has turned his life around, which has led him to starting Clear Futures CIC and working with others to support their own journey through troubled times. Martin often works with participants with 'Grace' his Falcon and trained dogs.
Our Team - Phil
Phil has over 25 years experience working in safeguarding in education settings in some of the most deprived areas in the country. Starting his career in Nursery and Primary Schools. Phil then spent 14 years working in Further Education Colleges initially as a lecturer, progressing to Assistant Principal of a Catholic Sixth Form College. Phil’s most recent position prior to working in the community, was as a University Director.
The Project - in partnership with OMG CIC we will deliver a range of support and developmental workshops, life-coaching and mentoring for 20 women living in a local women's refuge and those who attend other homeless hubs in St Helens and Liverpool. These workshops will improve the women's confidence in different environments, build self-awareness, improve personal, social and time management, help the women understand relationships and build their skills to better cope with change.
Additionally we will mentor small groups and individuals to improve their employment (as many are in minimum wage jobs) and encourage them to seek further education opportunities.
Our Workshops - we have a range of workshops to compliment the supportive mentoring that include:
- Managing Change
- Conflict Resolution
- Building Self-esteem and Confidence
- Fulfilling Potential
- Overcoming Addiction
- Employment and Engagement
Testimonials
‘Phil’s session were very good! He covered important and relevant topics whilst relating really well to the young people and keeping them engaged. He kept topics fresh and delivered them in a very relaxed way. The young people related to him as he was very open, honest and real and spoke to them as equals with a starting topic regarding respect and understanding. One young person (who was sometimes very difficult to engage) really listened and opened up to him regarding anxiety and reasons for offending in what ended up being a one to one session with the young person commenting that he would like to do more sessions with him. I found the sessions very interesting too and very positive for the young people .’
‘Phil’s sessions on conflict were very valuable... he managed to keep them all engaged and challenge their views in a relaxed manner.’
Intervention Development Officer & Participation Lead, St Helens Youth Justice Service (2020)
The Fazakerley Community Federation was introduced to Martin O’Looney and his team of volunteers from Clear Future Communities CIC in March 2020 as lockdown struck.
As an organisation we quickly concentrated our efforts on food supply to the local community which resulted in us setting up a food bank. The team from Clear Futures Communities CIC played a very important role in our crisis support not just with food, but with other essential items that we needed to provide to families with babies and young children; essential clothes, prams and equipment and also baby products which were very well received by the families, and acted as vital support in very uncertain and stressful times.
Our partnership with Clear Futures Communities CIC has grown stronger as the months have passed, and we look forward to working with them for many years to come.
Spokesperson, Fazackerley Community Federation, Liverpool (2020).