Since 2019, Fieldfisher has worked with St Mungo's towards its mission to end homelessness and rebuild lives. People experiencing homelessness face greater barriers to accessing healthcare, education, employment, and more.
Alongside accommodation and wellbeing services, St Mungo's runs a digital inclusion course as part of its Recovery College to help remove some of these barriers.
Our IT team delivered a series of IT and life skills courses to people facing (or recovering from) homelessness, ensuring St Mungo's clients have equitable access to education and work.
Richard Dwight, Fieldfisher DMS Team Leader, delivered a web development course, providing a base from which St Mungo's clients, many of whom were looking to set up new business ventures, could develop their entrepreneurial skills.
Richard also created ten virtual sessions focused on digital employability skills through courses on programming, Windows, databases, and online safety. This will give St Mungo's clients an advantage when looking for jobs across various industries.
Richard says: "I have been involved with the St Mungo's Recovery College for a few years now and it's been a real joy to get to know the clients and those who work at the college, some of whom were former clients themselves. Knowing that the simple investment of my time bridged the technology gap and allowed St Mungo's clients to upskill was hugely rewarding."
With in-person courses on hold due to the pandemic, some St Mungo's clients faced barriers to accessing the digital world that is becoming essential to daily life. St Mungo's were quick to mobilise teams to provide smart phones to all its clients and virtual Recovery College courses became accessible overnight. Check out this video to get an insight into what this meant for St Mungo's clients.
As part of the Foundations of Digital Confidence programme, Sophie Kemp, Fieldfisher IT Trainer, recorded courses on Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, providing almost 200 clients with skills to empower them to participate in the community and gain employment.
St Mungo's clients who attended the sessions said:
“Really enjoyed these sessions! The facilitators' knowledge is outstanding!”
“Thank you very much for all of your support. You are doing amazing work for the college. I am really enjoying the classes: very engaging and related to my interests in technology."
Millie Hawes, Corporate Responsibility Manager, comments: "How many times have you opened a bank account or created an email account? People facing homelessness are denied these very necessities of life that so many take for granted. Our people want to remove barriers to a dignified life by creating digital skills courses that empower St Mungo's clients. Digital confidence isn’t just about employability, it's about being able to engage in every part of societal life. Through our partnership, we have a responsibility to use our skills and time to add value to the community and bolster the St Mungo's mission."
The rebranded Digital Recovery College will soon operate with a hybrid model and our courses will create a legacy that can be used again to support people recovering from homelessness.
About Fieldfisher's support for St. Mungo's
Since September 2019, the London office has been partnered with St Mungo's. St Mungo’s is one of the UK’s leading homelessness charities and exists to end homelessness and rebuild lives. Each night the charity provides housing and support to 3,150 people across London and the South and helps thousands of others with advice, health, skills and employment services.
For more information about our charity partner, please see our Just Purpose pages.