Our mission is to prevent homelessness and we’re acutely aware of the fact it can affect anyone at any time. By helping trainees unlock their potential they can stay safe and secure in their tenancy with a greater understanding of the skills they need to thrive. We facilitate so much but there are still lots of myths about who we help and what we do.

We work with people of all ages

This is a big one and something people often don’t realise. We work with people of all ages, from different backgrounds, facing different challenges, with different skills. Homelessness can affect anyone and our mission is to prevent homelessness no matter your age or background. We work with people before they become tenants; during their first, second or third tenancy who may be having a ‘wobble’; and those facing difficulties affording the rent or on the cusp of eviction; as well as young people! By making sure everyone has access to the skills they need to be excellent tenants and maintain secure tenancies we take another step in the right direction. 

A benefit of this is that our workshops provide a shared learning experience where people of all ages, backgrounds, and different life stories and experiences can come together to achieve their outcomes. Not only does this approach help build confidence and shared peer learning, it also shows you that you’re not alone in the challenges you may be facing. 

We travel 

Being based in Norwich doesn’t mean we only work there. We know there’s a world outside our fine city so we’re more than happy to travel to wherever we’re needed. We make sure we break down as many barriers as possible to make our training as accessible as we can. If that means some travel and working evenings or weekends, we’re happy to do it! The most important thing to us is facilitating workshops that make trainees feel confident.

Our workshops help trainees thrive

We’re incredibly proud of the diverse learning experience our workshops offer. Covering everything from banking to housing options to debt and employability; we design courses that unlock the skills tenants need to thrive. We’re aware of the empowering soft and hard skills trainees need to get and KEEP a job and work them into the training we deliver to prevent homelessness. After all, happy and confident people are much more likely to sustain secure tenancies!

Not your average training!

We work hard to make our training, or workshops, unique! Instead of lecturing trainees with PowerPoint after PowerPoint, we use all the tools at our disposal to keep workshops interesting and interactive (no PowerPoint at all!). We know that if people are engaged they’re much more likely to understand and remember what we talk about, which in turn helps them sustain a tenancy.

There is almost no writing in a Your Own Place workshop

Speaking of engaging, we know that doing pages of writing doesn’t fill most people with excitement. Which is why our workshops contain no powerpoints, no handouts, and (almost) no writing! We also recognise that everyone learns differently so adapt our training to cater to different learning styles and mild to moderate learning difficulties. 

The best part about our workshops is that trainees can’t fail! We want to build confidence, which is why there are no assessments and no failing. Just lots of confidence-building and skills for life.

We can help with connectivity issues

We know that connectivity can be an issue and not everyone has access to the internet or owns a suitable device to take our training on. As part of our commitment to minimise barriers, we can work with you to deliver and set up digital devices for use during the workshop. We can also provide data and internet access to make sure trainees are confident and have the know-how to get online before a workshop. 

There you have it. Your Own Place is more than just a young persons’ organisation. Our mission is to prevent homelessness, which is why we work hard to create workshops that give trainees the skills needed to thrive in life. Whatever their age, background situation and experience.

If you’d like more information about how Your Own Place can help you, get in touch via our contact us page or email rebecca@yourownplace.org.uk