House of St Barnabas

The House of St Barnabas is a charity pledging to break the cycle of homelessness and social exclusion in London. We believe the best way to play our part in this is to provide people with employability skills and support them into lasting work. We run a social enterprise, a not-for-profit members’ club, in the heart of which is our Employment Academy offering accredited qualifications, on-site work experience, real job opportunities, mentoring and into work support. Our model tackles disadvantage head on, not only through the training programme but also by opening access to social, cultural and employment networks otherwise closed to our participants. The relationship between the club and charity is mutually beneficial; the club is a vibrant home from home for members, a community of people motivated by social change. Membership fees facilitate the work of the Employment Academy. Participants on the 12-week employment programme spend 10 weeks in the bar, kitchen, restaurant and throughout our offices, learning the skills and gaining the confidence they need not just to get a job, but to thrive. We continue to support people for 12-months, helping them to find and keep paid work and to progress. On Purpose Associates work with our Social Business Team, developing and implementing new business strategies to keep us on track to support all our work from earned income by 2018.