This post was written by our Co-Founder JuIiet Eccleston
I’m sure many of you will be able to relate to my feeling of helplessness when I see the volume of homeless people who need support. My donations and brief conversations at Brighton station seem like such a drop in the ocean when there are so many individuals in need of ongoing help.
Beam – crowdfunding training for homeless people
Then I heard about an amazing social enterprise called Beam which crowdfunds employment training and mentoring to help those who are homeless move into a job and out of homelessness for good. The Beam website shares the stories and ambitions of these people, then invites individuals to donate to a fund which pays for their professional development. You can donate to one person whose situation particularly resonates with you, or to a fund which is distributed evenly among all of the people looking for support.
Creating a level playing field for everyone
It instantly struck me as a truly brilliant idea – in fact, I wish I’d thought of it myself. When I co-founded AnyGood?, my mission was to bring fairness and integrity to the recruitment industry because it was clear that not everyone had equal opportunities when they applied for jobs. For some time now, AnyGood? has been working to create a level playing field for underrepresented groups. And while there’s no doubt that homeless people face significant barriers to achieving their potential, they’re often overlooked when it comes to diversity and inclusion initiatives. The obstacles in their paths are numerous: some can’t even begin to apply for jobs without a fixed address.
How AnyGood? users can donate to Beam
What Beam is doing to transform the lives of homeless people is so important that I wanted AnyGood? to be involved, helping to support those who need it most. That’s why we are now offering an option for AnyGood? members to automatically donate their £1,500 hiring reward to Beam, or another charity of their choice. On average, training costs around £3000 per person, meaning that your donations will go a long way to making a significant difference to someone’s life. And, of course, you can choose to donate another amount of your choice directly to Beam via their website. However you choose to support Beam, there’s nothing like the feeling of knowing that you’ve helped others who are looking to create change for the better in their lives.
There’s no question that having a network of support and encouragement makes a real difference to individuals that are facing challenges in life. AnyGood? and Beam both work by enabling individuals to come together and ‘crowdsource’ support, and I’m so pleased that our collaboration will amplify this even further. However, giving our members the option of donating their finder’s fee is only the beginning – we’ll continue to investigate other ways that we can support this impressive initiative. I’d love to hear your suggestions.
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