The Young person's shared accommodation scheme (YPSAS) is part of the housing association POBL group. The service is a unique service from any other housing provider as it houses and supports young people from the ages of 18-25 across south east Wales. The communities in which it operates are Caerphilly, Torfaen, Newport and Monmouthsire. There we have a wide variety of properties in each borough which house two like minded young people in a modern, shared accommodation setting. The young people are supported intensively by housing intervention offciers which are each allocated a designated borough. The housing intervention officer will provide housing related support to tenants within the shared accommodation scheme ranging from setting up utility bills, managing tenants rent, working with local authority housing teams/assocations to raise repairs, maintenance etc whilst working in unison with the young people to ensure they are prepaird for an assured tenancy come the end of their intensive support. 

The second arm of the service is the Youth community and development officer side of it. This arm of the service see's two youth workers supporting and assisting young people directly in the community. The youth workers are there to create and develop community links within the boroughs they serve. There are Two youth workers one in Caerphilly/Torfaen and the other one covers Newport/monmouthshire. The role of the youth development workers is to get young people from the community/service into education,employment and training. The two workers have developed unique and tailored workshops/programmes for memebrs of the community to attend and get something out of. 

The first programme is 'Career club'. This programme looks at what makes a good/bad CV and looks into interview skills/techniques to prepare young people for interviews in their desired field of work. This programme is informal and relaxed whilst covering topics which are essential for young people in order to gain employment. 

The second Programme is called 'safe space'. This programme looks and delves into challenges facing members of the LGBTQ+ community and opens up a 'safe space' for young people to explore issues/challenges in more depth. The programme looks into womens/girls rights and the challenges they currently face such as sexual harassment/ work inequalties and more. It also looks at topics such as male mental health challenges and male suicide along with healthy relationships. 

All these programmes are free and run in each county on a weekly basis. 

Torfaen workshops-

Every Tuesday

Safe Space Workshop
11am - 1pm
High Street Gym, Pontypool

All of these workshops are completely free of charge and anyone aged between 16-25 can attend no referrals are needed. 

Contact adam.price@poblgroup.co.uk for more information.