Alfie has been with Moving On for 1 year after being referred as being homeless. Alfie is a care leaver who previously held a tenancy with a social housing provider however, had to abandon this to care for a family member. Alfie had also accrued some rent arrears due to gaps in employment and delays in housing benefit.
Alfie came to us with a very clear goal in mind which was discussed in his support plan development sessions. Alfie had a career goal of becoming a HGV driver. Unfortunately Alfie was also banned after receiving too many points on his driving licence in the first year of holding it. Alfie was determined to get this back and achieve his dream.
Alfie managed to find part time work in a factory and was able to afford to save for driving lessons in order to be able to sit his driving test again alongside making rent payments. His support worker would look at his budgeting with him as well as being able to act as a ‘middle man’ between Alfie and housing benefit by providing payslips to ensure he was not paying to much or too little rent in line with what support he was entitled to towards this . This meant Alfie would not get into any rent arears in his current tenancy. Alfie passed his driving test a short time later and began the next step in his plan – save to buy a car in order to improve his employment options.
Again Alfie was able to manage his money in order to save and purchased a car. Alfie’s support worker was thrilled that he was working towards his end goal little by little and gave plenty of praise and encouragement along the way – despite this being something Alfie sometimes struggles to accept!
There was a bump in the road however – Alfie’s factory job was only seasonal and he found himself out of work again and now with the added cost of a vehicle to pay for. Around the same time Alfie had also laid the groundwork to get himself on to HGV training course which was over an hour’s drive away from his home.
Due to Moving On funders – Alfie’s support worker was able to help him financially during this period with taking him shopping for food and utility payments to help towards the daily cost of living and make sure Alfie was able to pay for fuel to get to his course.
Over the coming weeks Alfie was able to pass his course and be sent his HGV licence, meaning he could finally start a career in his dream job.
Alfie is currently doing agency work as a HGV driver and hopes to find secure employment soon once he has more experience in the industry. Alfie and his support worker, along with the help of Young People’s service, are looking into working towards clearing his rent arrears to be able to obtain future social housing which will be more affordable for Alfie to manage. Moving On would also now be able to provide a glowing housing reference for Alfie as a future tenant, as well as a hardworking and determined young man in general! Well done Alfie.