Half of all homeless struggle to read, says St Mungo’s Broadway

Ukulele classes: Left to right, St Mungo’s client Dennis, staff member Simon Phillips, client Antonio and music teacher Mike Dodd. Photograph: Dan Bell

An Action Week of workshops and activities organised by charity St Mungo’s Broadway has been teaching Hackney’s homeless basic life skills.

A recent study conducted by the charity found that 51 per cent of homeless people lack basic knowledge of English and maths, making everyday life difficult.

The Mare Street hostel, which has the capacity to house 60 people at any one time, believes low literacy rates are preventing the homeless from getting jobs.

The report also found that those who lack basic skills are also likely to find it harder to recover from homelessness.

Howard Sinclair, CEO of St Mungo’s Broadway said: “From not learning how to read and write at school to being held back by the adult learning system, many people who are homeless face terrible hurdles when it comes to basic skills.”

The annual Action Week aims to combat this skills deficit with a wide range of workshops from basic reading and mathematics, to form filling and understanding household bills.

Describing the problems homeless people typically face, basic skills tutor Simon Phillips said: “If you cannot read or write very well, you are limited all the time. You are limited in your ambitions and what you can achieve in life.

“One man who came to us was sent to me to be assessed because they were a bit worried about his level of skills. He couldn’t read or write at all. After a few months he came in with an electoral register form and he taught him to fill it in.

“A couple of months later he came in with a big smile on his face and said he had voted for the first time. He was 52. It just makes you realise that it is worth all the effort. For me it was as if I was playing football for England and had scored in the World Cup.”

Workshops also focused on the importance of learning itself and included gardening training, DIY and bike maintenance. Weekly music classes were also held where clients could learn instruments such as the ukulele.

Mr Phillips explained the connection between learning an instrument and basic life skills training: “Many of our clients lack self confidence and haven’t had a great time at school or in education. The experience of learning to play a song on the ukulele is a fun way of learning, alongside others, which can then boost people to recognise their own abilities and go on to learn more.”

Dennis, who did not wish to give his surname, has been a St Mungo’s client for six weeks, said: “Since I’ve started coming here, it’s kept me off the streets. It’s helped me out. I wish there were more places like this when I was younger.”