New sessions help young people with DIY
skills
Young people living in the shadow of
homelessness are being given the chance to pick up basic DIY skills
through a pioneering new scheme in Wales.
The six young people, aged 17 to 20, are
currently living in supported housing projects run by charity
Shelter and are expected to move on to their own flats in the near
future.
In a bid to ensure they can keep up with
everyday maintenance around their home, property maintenance expert
Ian Williams has teamed up with Shelter Cymru, B&Q and Llamau –
which works with socially excluded homeless people – to run weekly
sessions to demonstrate things like basic plumbing, tiling,
electrics and gardening.
The idea is to give the young people greater
confidence to maintain and improve their own home when they settle
somewhere, giving them a better chance of maintaining a secure,
independent life.
“Basic DIY skills are not widely passed down
through the generations these days so young adults often do not
know where to start if they need to do things like replace a fuse
or replace a leaky washer,” said Anne Harrington, office manager
with Ian Williams’s Cardiff office, which is co-ordinating the
project.
“We are delighted to be working in partnership
with Shelter Cymru and B&Q to run these sessions. We hope to be
able to offer places to more people in the future, and perhaps
encourage young people to consider a career in the construction or
maintenance sector.”
Ian Williams also supports young
apprentices in Wales and is committed to helping local people into
careers in the construction industry. The company is
a long-term supporter of Shelter and has been an official
sponsor of the charity for two years.