H.A.T.S.S OFF TO A GREAT START

Over the next six (6) weeks, over 185 persons are set to benefit from the Ministry of Sport and Community Development’s Handicraft Training for Special Students (HATSS) Programme. The skills training programme is inhouse and takes place at special Residential Institutions and Mental Health and Wellness Centres throughout Trinidad. The programme will focus on Christmas craft and cuisine in time for the yuletide season.

The Honourable Shamfa Cudjoe, Minister of Sport and Community Development, said, “Our HATSS programme is strategically placed to support some of our most vulnerable groups in our communities by targeting troubled and/or displaced teenagers, specially challenged adults and outpatients who are mentally and socially inept. Cooking and craft-based activities are important for mental and physical health. These activities can improve behavioural health by boosting self-esteem, encouraging positivity, improving mental faculty, and are also great stress relievers.”

The HATSS programme aims to engage participants in a positive learning environment and enables trainees to actively participate in home-based production of goods and services. The programme provides domestic support by assisting with the reduction of household expenditure and empowering persons to generate income through training to develop their skills.

All the necessary COVID-19 guidelines would be observed to protect residential students, staff and tutors.