Magenta Living Launches Life-Skills Scheme for Vulnerable Young Mums
Leading North West housing provider, Magenta Living has successfully delivered a pilot motivational programme, designed to empower vulnerable, young single-mothers and equip them with a range of valuable life-skills.
Magenta Living, which currently owns 13,000 properties in Wirral and throughout the North West, delivered its Inspiring Dreams programme to a group of eight young women at the Our House centre in Rock Ferry.
Our House is a dedicated supported housing scheme that provides shelter and a safe space for vulnerable young women aged from 16 to 25 who are facing a range of challenging circumstances. The ten-bed centre accommodates young single women, young pregnant women and young single mothers along with their children. The staff team at Our House works closely with residents, in liaison with social services, to help get women back on their feet and develop the essential life-skills they need to forge more positive futures.
Magenta Living has tailored a special programme for the young single mothers at Our House, based upon its existing Inspiring Dreams initiative. This initiative is designed to support Magenta Living tenants in developing the skills, knowledge and self-confidence they need to succeed. Launched in 2017 Inspiring Dreams has already seen seven groups of Magenta Living tenants graduate the course, after achieving their planned personal goals.
The Inspiring Dreams programme tailored to the young women at Our House focused on boosting aspirations, promoting self-confidence and resilience, and strengthening employability skills, through a variety of practical workshops and advice-based sessions. These included fitness, well-being and healthy lifestyle classes, CV writing and interview skills sessions and communication technique workshops. Those who took part were also provided with a free gym pass and were given the opportunity to gain a paediatric CPR qualification.
All training was delivered by Magenta Living in partnership with North West training provider 3D Training.
To enable young mothers to participate in and benefit from the programme, Magenta Living provided two professional creche workers for the duration of the two-week course.
Jamie Martin, Head of Community Regeneration at Magenta Living said, “We developed Inspiring Dreams to help empower people to take back control of their own lives, paving the way for more positive, rewarding futures. By tailoring the programme for the young women at Our House we hope we are helping to address the needs of a particularly vulnerable group of people, increasing confidence, supporting well-being and boosting life-skills that will help to ensure a better future for young mothers and their children.”
A young woman taking part in the Magenta Living programme added, “The course has been really inspiring and it has brought me out of my shell. It has made me realise what I can achieve, and I’ve remembered that I do have career aspirations. I am going to study psychology through the Open University and will pursue my dreams of being a forensic scientist. This course is the first step, but it has made me reminded me what I’m capable of achieving.”
Following the success of the pilot programme, Magenta Living is looking to deliver a second Inspiring Dreams course at Our House in early 2019.