A Lottery-funded training project helping Bradford’s homeless and most vulnerable adults into work is celebrating its first year of success.

In the past 12 months, Horton Housing’s Training Centre based at Edmund Street in Great Horton has helped 175 people improve their job chances and got 108 of them qualifications.

The training centre was awarded £355,698 from the Lottery’s Reaching Communities Programme to spend in the city over three years, providing training and education opportunities where they were needed most.

Project co-ordinator Jamie Glencross said since last year they had been working closely with Bradford Day Shelter to support socially-excluded people and demand had been high.

Every month the project is seeing 20 new people with homelessness and housing issues referred to it for training.

One of those who has been helped is 31-year-old Robert Haskins who has been dependent on alcohol since he was a teenager.

His plight got worse when his flat was taken over by so-called drinking friends and he found himself on the streets sleeping rough. But he eventually found shelter at the New Cross Street project for homeless people with alcohol needs. Workers there referred him to Horton Housing Training Centre.

Since then he has completed a painting and decorating course and gained qualifications in Preparing for Work and Personal Skills which he hopes will get him into paid work soon.

Until he gets a job he has been doing voluntary work giving Canterbury Community Centre in Arum Street a make-over with others from the project.

He said: “I’ve got my pride back and a purpose to life again. A lot of the skills are ones I already had but had just forgotten them so it’s been good for me to retrace them and now I’m ready to work again. I’m getting ready in the mornings and I’m on time for things – I’ve got a chance and I’m taking it.”

Co-ordinator Mr Glencross said the project, which also runs a catering social enterprise business called Full Circle, will work with more homeless charities across the district and has plans to take a roadshow out to hostels soon so other people get to find out what training options are on offer to help them get their lives back on track.

Anyone interested in finding out more should e-mail jamie.glencross@hortonhousing.co.uk.