St Mungo's, a leading London homeless charity, is launching its 'Burning Bridges to Employment' campaign.

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St Mungo's, a leading London homeless charity, is launching its 'Burning Bridges to Employment' campaign.

The campaign is fighting to save the future of St Mungo's vital and unique employment and training services for the homeless.

Responsible for getting 125 homeless people into employment every year, it also provides over 1200 homeless people with training to help them become job ready.

Despite helping more homeless people into work and education than any other charity, these services are facing an overwhelming 86% cut in available funding.

St Mungo's three training and employment projects for the Capital's most vulnerable and socially excluded people, Bridge Resource Centre, The Employment Team and The Workshop are now facing closure.

In New Labour's first term Tony Blair declared: "The best defence against social exclusion is having a job, and the best way to get a job is to have a good education, with the right training and experience."

Nearly a decade on Charles Fraser, Chief Executive of St Mungo's, said "It is time that the government acted upon its own rhetoric surrounding social exclusion. Addressing the issue of homelessness requires tackling the absence of training and skills - it is a long term project, which needs a long term solution and sustained funding.

"!It is no longer good enough to provide ad hoc funding dependent upon political expediency. The government seems intent on consigning the most vulnerable people in society to the scrapheap."

St Mungo's is calling for:

Emergency shadow funding to cover the shortfall in funding for employment and training services.
Consistent funding that will enable a long term commitment to homeless people in search of work - not just a quick fix for the job ready.
An understanding that purposeful activities give homeless people increased confidence and vocational aspirations - 'springboard' activities within hostels, and a range of pre-certification support and low level training are a vital part of the process of becoming job ready.
St Mungo's have met with James Plaskitt MP in the DWP to try to secure the lost funds as well as the London MP's Andy Love, Karen Buck and Dawn Butler who are keen to raise the issue in Parliament are supporting the campaign.