Prue Chamberlayne, Donovan Chamberlayne, Chris Curran, Brian Gearing and actorsfrom the Harry Partnership

This innovative DVD training pack is designed to help anyone who wants to run a series of groupwork sessions about emotional and relationship issues, for staff and volunteers who work with vulnerable and socially excluded people. It increases the capacity of front-line staff and management to support change in the lives of homeless and vulnerable people, and cope with challenging behaviour. The materials can also be used directly with vulnerable people to help them develop their assertiveness in seeking support, to distinguish self-imposed from genuine external obstacles in their lives, and to be more assertive in seeking support to tackle their personal dilemmas.

The DVD focuses on eight powerful life-stage scenes involving two service users and one worker. It is intended to stimulate discussion about new and different ways of engaging with marginalised people, including preventive work. Themes include the citizenship rights of homeless people, the norms and practices governing how staff deal with painful client relationships, and the back-up which managers need to provide to staff.

Vital information for: front-line workes, users and managers in social services, school mentoring, youth work/Connexions, youth offending teams, probation service, prison service, police, trainee lawyers, magistrates, drug units, mental health services, and homeless agencies.