Our education development work is a key element of the work of the charity. The education workers are helping to prevent homelessness in Wales by providing young people with a better understanding of how homelessness can affect them, and how to avoid it.

Information matters is a project which aims to improve the lives of people by raising awareness and improving the take up of rights in relation to housing, debt and welfare benefits to prevent homelessness and alleviate poverty.

Shelter Cymru’s Education Service
Shelter Cymru’s Education Service was launched in 2001 and is committed to educating and informing young people about leaving home.

The Education Coordinator works closely with a range of partners to ensure that young people across Wales gain access to high quality and consistent information about the transition into independent living. This work includes raising awareness of financial issues as well as preparing young people for dealing with housing difficulties, including homelessness.

Shelter Cymru has developed a range of bilingual educational resources and we also work with our partners to produce more targeted and localised materials. The Education Service provides various opportunities for young people to become involved, through consultations and through volunteering, campaigning and participation schemes.

We continuously lobby for the recognition of education on leaving home in national and local strategies and action plans.

Visit the Library to read reports relating to our education work.

Coordinating local approaches
The Education Service provides support to various partners to ensure that young people across Wales gain access to information on housing and homelessness.

We work with Local Authority Housing, Homelessness, Education, Youth Services, Supporting People and Leaving Care departments as well as voluntary groups to coordinate a localised approach to delivering Housemate and other key information. We have produced a Good Practice guide for partners wishing to set up or improve their awareness work with young people.

If your department or organisation is interested in delivering information on housing and homelessness to young people and you would like further guidance, please contact the Education Coordinator.

Strategic links
The Education Service strives for broader recognition of homelessness prevention education in strategies and frameworks that impact on young people’s lives. In recent years, we have lobbied for the inclusion of homelessness as a topic in the Personal and Social Education framework in schools.

We responded to consultations on each Local Authority’s Children and Young People Plan to raise awareness of early prevention projects. Most recently, we responded to the Welsh Assembly Government’s Not in Education , Employment or Training (NEET) strategy to ensure that young people in this category could gain access to our Education Service.

It’s difficult to keep abreast of all frameworks and strategies so if you know of any that may be relevant to the work of Shelter Cymru’s Education Service, please contact the Education Development Officer.