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Delivery and achievements

Milton Skills for Life participant journey

Further information

Background

Cranstoun's Milton Skills for Life project is co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the London Councils. The ESF project is open to anyone with drug and or alcohol problems past or present, who is over 20 years old, in the boroughs of Hackney, Camden, Haringey and Islington. Participants must have UK status to work.

Support offered by the project

The project offers wraparound supporting services such as treatment, housing, health and legal support. Milton Skills for Life works with internal teams plus other service providers on site including the NHS, probation services, and local authorities. The excellent facilities at King Henry's Walk provide an encouraging and "engaging" culture, providing a range of supporting services essential in developing small steps towards big goals.

Participant referral

As a specialist provider, Cranstoun looks to the key worker and participant to ensure that the participant is as ready for this next step towards employment as they can be. From the outset, participants and providers are advised on developing a solid foundation in areas of health, housing, criminal justice and treatment, underpinned by key soft skills. Unless these barriers are addressed and the right environment is set up for the participant to move on, the programme's objective to achieve sustainable outcomes is much more challenging. The project works closely with other service providers to determine when this will be, and the client is assessed in terms of needs, and how far they are from the employment market.

Many participants come onto the project through the criminal justice referral route and have a Drug Rehabilitation Requirement (DRR). Probation services provide a good "vetting point" as they have in house literacy and numeracy services plus other key services. Another common referral route is word-of-mouth and also GP services, community events, and open days.

Retaining participants

Participants' perceptions of Jobcentre Plus (JCP), and experience of some of the bigger employment services providers may have been traumatic, and participants often have pre-conceived ideas and fears. These are addressed and replaced through the induction process and the one to one relationship that the project develops with participants, based on trust. The project recognises that participants will have a lot of commitments to handle while they are on the programme, and that they may relapse, which will delay plans. Milton Skills for Life accommodates this.

Beyond employment advice

If a participant has financial problems, Milton can advocate on their behalf, because the remit goes beyond employment advice and facilitates the transition. Participants have one contact throughout the project, and beyond into the sustained six months employment period. Some participants return on a voluntary basis as peer supporters, and some former participants give inspirational monthly talks, encouraging participants to see the positive side.

The project offers creative opportunities to develop soft skills, including:

• an employability workshop programme
• social learning activities
• creative art
• cooking workshops
• yoga
• sports workshops.

One of the more unusual opportunities available to participants is tending the organic garden, where participants gather each week to learn about sowing and nurturing fresh fruit and vegetables, develop life and work skills, and through the therapeutic benefits of gardening, make sense of their challenging pasts and aspiring futures. Milton Skills for Life provides breakfast and lunch for participants, which is important as many will not have any culinary skills when they enter the programme.

Aims and challenges

Challenges faced with participants

Milton Skills for Life offers a customised employment support package tailored to the world of work. A lot of participants have worked but not always in a legitimate manner and their energy and skills need positive channelling. Many participants have good skills sets and are very capable. For employment, they need to have social, cultural and economic skills. Through the project a rapport is built with participants, commitment and motivation is good, and communication skills are often very good by the end of the programme.

As a result of the current jobs market, and competition for college places, participants may experience rejection, and their response to this is generally positive, given that there is a lot going on in their lives and many have deep psychological issues. The key is how quickly participants can change behaviour patterns, which can be very fixed. Milton Skills for Life is able to work with all these areas at one time, and some participants have been substance users for 15 to 20 years so behaviour patterns can be very ingrained. There may be issues of generational drug use, criminal history, offences, some minor, some worse, which bring their own issues. Isolation and poverty and a lack of basic skills can add to an already long list of challenges.

Creativity and consistency

As Project Manager Anita Backory points out, ESF funding encourages organisations to be creative, and there is a strong emphasis on partner organisations to present clients at the right time in order for the effects to be sustained. The key is to have major barriers sorted out, such as housing, prescribing, safe needle exchange, before they come to Milton so that they are feeling positive.

Consistency is important because it gets participants into a routine of attendance. Whatever that may be and however often, is vital. Out of 20 participants initially engaged, five or six fail to attend for assessment. There are many possible reasons for this:

• The chaos of their lives precludes attendance
• They may be using again
• They may not ready for the commitment
• Fear and past experiences
• Simply the "wrong time" in their lives.

Whatever has happened, participants are contacted on a regular basis to encourage them into activities. When they attend, they are invited to attend social lifestyle groups as well as looking at vocational options. Social lifestyle groups help participants discover what they might want to do, and encourage more reserved participants to grow in confidence.  Various activities are offered on a weekly basis, including:

• Health-related activities
• Yoga
• Gardening
• Football
• Art
• Cookery
• Drama.

These actions are fun, creative, structured and provide small stepping stones for participants.  Gardening works well for participants with mental health issues as there is no pressure, no drugs talk and  key skills are developed, including planning, planting, potting, harvesting, and watering. If childcare is an issue, Milton can help to find places.

Assessment and support

The initial assessment is personalised to each participant. The individual action plan (IAP) template is completed with short and longer term goals, then a smaller weekly action plan is drawn up. Over the following 12 to 16, weeks the participant settles into a routine, with a minimum of once a week attendance and a maximum of three times a week. Each session is two and a half to three hours in duration, long enough to gather all job vacancies and get applications going. Attendance varies according to individual circumstances because some participants also attend college once or twice a week. Participants can still attend the social lifestyle groups alongside their tailored programme. While participants are in treatment, they are involved in a lot of group work. By the time they come to Milton, they have often had enough of it, and appreciate the one-to-one support provided. 80% of participant support is one-to-one.

Employer links

Milton Skills for Life has built up very good employer links in the local community, and they encourage participants to engage in work experience, usually short term of around 30 hours. Employers such as Holland and Barrett, Waitrose and local small and medium sized enterprises have all engaged with Milton Skills for Life. It is easier to open up a dialogue with local employers because they are generally more willing to help local people. It gives the project the chance to challenge perceptions of those who have had drug or alcohol issues and to give them a second chance, which is a very important aspect of the work. There is an "Employment Incentive" scheme for completion of a work placement. Many participants continue in a voluntary capacity with the employer or in some cases paid employment is offered.

Project information