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New Meaning Foundation

New Meaning Foundation is a charity in Cambridge that builds SPACE Micro-homes for homeless people. It offers work experience and further education for ex-homeless and people from backgrounds of hardship who want to learn to earn.

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New Meaning Foundation

New Meaning Foundation is a charity in Cambridge focused on:

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Building affordable, modern and sustainable homes for people who have experienced homelessness. These modular homes are called SPACE Micro-homes and they are built by the people we train.

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Offering training, patient employment and hope for those living in poverty or disadvantage. This includes young people who have been excluded from school or have become NEET

team photo

New Meaning Foundation

A charity in Cambridge helping people to learn to earn whilst building homes for homeless people. 

 

New Meaning Foundation has a factory workshop at Waterbeach Barracks building SPACE Micro-Homes for ex-homeless people.

It also runs hands-on practical training programmes with functional skills training (English, Maths, Employability) . Learning takes place in our factory workshop, onsite during builds and across East Anglia. The programmes are ideally suited to those want to learn to earn and who benefit from a smaller, informal and supporting learning and working environment.

Construction at Mojo Construction

Mojo Foundation

MoJo Foundation is a Gambian Charity and MoJo Construction Limited is a not-for-profit social enterprise construction company, founded and originally funded by New Meaning Foundation.

We have a block making shop at Tabokoto, making and selling compressed red clay blocks as an environmentally friendly and safer alternative to the traditionally used grey cement blocks.

We own 4 hectares (10 acres) of building land in Jambur, Western Region of The Gambia.   Here we are preparing to build 3 and 4 bed modern properties for sale training and employing young adult workers – previously unemployed.

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Our Partners

We are proud and honoured to be working with the following organisations
The Cambridge
Cambridge Community Foundation logo
It Takes a City logo
Cambridge & Peterborough Combined Authority
Greater Cambridge Partnership
Allia
Cambridge & Peterborough Combined Authority
Learn Together
Cooke Curtis & Co

My work coach, John Evans, showed me how to recognise my strengths, to gain confidence and make positive choices and now I have a job here today with the Catering Company

Year 11 Student, Nightingale Academy “Beat NEET” course, 2014

 

I achieved things during the course of these workshops that I know I would not have done without them:

– Properly recognizing my strengths, weaknesses, transferable skills and encouraging me to seek validation of these from ex working colleagues and valued friends.

– Identifying hurdles to my gaining future work and how to overcome these with positive actions

– Creating a personal action plan that recognizes and sets targets as to how that is going to happen week by week into the future.

– They gave me and I know they gave others a positive confidence to keep trying, value what we have to offer and better represent ourselves to potential employers in the future.

– New Meaning and these sessions gave me time to reflect on my own situation and create new strategies for my future. The sessions also indicated to me that there are organisations out there that care and are able to deliver back to work training on behald of multi needing groups of people.

Thank you New Meaning

Senior Manager (recently redundant) Social Housing Sector

It’s boosted my confidence a hell of a lot, because there’s no way I’d have been able to sit in a group like this and talk like I am doing now. And like, if someone phones me up and says: What are you wanting to achieve? Well I say I’m getting there because I’ve had help from PALS

Linda Chilton
Spirita Resident
Founder of Village Community Drama Project & Village Drop-in Advice Centre

The employment involved working in the prototype engineering technical workshop.

Have sign confidential agreement with organisation.

I thank you for your support and the very excellent advice that help me get employment with this organisation.

Being an older man and out of work for some time, you gave me the confidence to apply for jobs and to perform at the interview.

Robin
Working with Initiative ESF Programme, Cambridge 2015

I achieved things during the course of these workshops that I know I would not have done without them:

– Properly recognizing my strengths, weaknesses, transferrable skills

– Identifying hurdles to my gaining future work and how to overcome these with positive actions

– They gave me and I know they gave others a positive confidence to keep trying, value what we have to offer and better represent ourselves to potential employers in the future

Thank you New Meaning

Senior Manager, Homeless Support Sector
Working with Initiative ESF Programme, Cambridge 2015

I nearly didn’t turn up, I though; ‘oh its not for me, it’s going to be rubbish’ but the very first session we had was really good. Really positive feedback and it sort of gave me a line where I wanted to go in life.

Fleur Dainty
Derby Homes Resident
Obtained employment with Derby Homes Customer Call Centre

The process came alive on day two and when we got the cross functional teams involved… I loved it… the way people have approach the discussions has been great.

Michael Reece
Aster Property Management

The course leaders have taken a group of men and women of varying age groups with different life styles and experiences, some of whom had very little self esteem. They showed them that they are able to express themselves in a constructive way, that their opinions and ideas are of value, and that they could take these forward into positive action.

Wyn Buchan
Derby Homes Resident

All these people share one thing; we have no future! These PALS sessions are giving us hope; great networking opportunities, inspiration and a philosophy.

Trevor Hibbert
Derwent Living Resident

Student Management Team must be commended and are excellent ambassadors for the school.

The energy, enthusiasm and momentum behind the business and community activities is plain for all the see.

DoE Visitor
Tess PAVE Mentor Project (Clacton)

The Community Engagement workshop provided a radically different approach to community engagement than typically has been used in the renewables sector to date. Seeking to find a genuine win-win for the community and the developer, it offers perhaps the most tangible route to build support for a development, and hence influence a planning committee and the chances of planning consent. David Lett was a great facilitator who was able to convey complex theories and processes easily and with humour.

Tom Charrier
Stephenson Halliday

The net result for our business was 90% reduction in staff turnover, significantly reducing our ongoing recruitment and training costs.

Neil Sharma
Group Finance Director, Rivinton Street Holdings plc

I have achieved my life’s dream now… thanks to PALS

Edwin Morley
Spirita Resident
Founder of St Anns Community Radio Station (his life’s dream)

One session showed you that you had more good points and skills than you ever thought you had and really made you think.

Attendee
Derby Homes Focus Group

Helping our customers back into employment is transformational for them, makes business sense for us, and is positive for the wider community.

New Meaning has delivered outstanding results through “Work with Initiative”, in many cases succeeding where other provision has failed.

Their approach is different: it focuses on the individual, engenders confidence and self belief and, best of all, it works!

Caroline Titley
Bracknell Forest Homes