Riverside ECHG - ECHG opens new IT training center for homeless

ECHG played host to the local great and good when it opened a brand new IT training Suite at its Hamble Court hostel in Reading (30 October 2008).

Hamble Court is home to thirty-five single homeless men and women with a variety of support needs including drug misuse, alcoholism, mental health, histories of rough sleeping, ex offenders and other issues. It has a dedicated team of support workers and housing workers who engage with the residents, putting together support plans so that they can address their issues and move on to more independent living.

ECHG’s Support Manager at Hamble Court, Stewart Tippett, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Reading’s Mayor and Mayoress officiated at the opening and that we’ve received such a lot of support for this new IT Suite.

“The dedicated work of our Education and Training specialist Worker at Hamble Court, Christopher Symons, has been instrumental in setting up the room within the hostel, which will be used to teach the residents IT skills.


“A grounding in computer literacy is absolutely essential in many career paths and, as such, by offering this facility, we would be greatly improving the prospects of our residents.”

At Hamble Court, ECHG are using their new facility to provide residents with a means to access useful information and develop confidence.

Hamble Court benefited from over £5,000 of funding secured for them by Church Housing Trust. With this, the scheme purchased the items needed for the facility from PC World and arranged an internet connection through BT. The IT Suite is now fully operational, providing five PCs all with internet access.

After residents have gone through a brief induction on how to use the facility, they can use it for job searches, looking into housing options, applying for courses or just researching areas of interest to them.

About ten residents have used the room so far and the feedback has been very good.

Chris Symons said: “I have also recently arranged with the Volunteer Coordinator at Reading University to have student volunteers come in to support residents using the computers or offer basic courses (such as creative writing workshops, CV writing sessions etc.). And I’m now planning to arrange for Reading Adult and Community College to provide a tutor to run accredited courses from the facility.”

At the official opening of the new IT Suite Hamble Court invited representatives from all the local agencies with whom they work, as well as many of the scheme’s residents. There were also displays featuring some of the work Hamble Courts does including the many ventures and achievements of ‘Hambletons’, Hamble Court’s Residents’ Association.

Steward Tippett continued: “We used the opening as an opportunity to show our guests around the hostel, raise awareness of what we are all about and why we are such an important part of the local community.”