Closing the Gap - Empower Care Leavers in London

Dear Care Leaver Champion, 

In the last 3 months, 26 of our young people have had to access the Closing the Gap funding which you have helped to provide, an increase of 30% compared to the previous quarter. This support is for those entering ongoingeducation or the workplace to help them transition from one life stage into another. 

On the one hand, this increase indicates that more young people can take up work and training opportunities, which is a positive development. On the other hand, however, it also reiterates the stark grip the cost-of-living crisis has on them being financially unable to meet basic work-related travel or clothing needs from their own resources. 

Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment! 

Michael’s story 

Michaelhad some success at applying for jobs but had been struggling to find employment that matched his skill set and his career aspirations. When he took the bold decision to upskill by applying to university, he found himself with a place on a course that inspired him, but also in a new financial paradigm with a lack of paid work and a student loan application to make. 

Without your support of the Closing The Gap Fund, Michael wouldn’t have been able to take up this exciting opportunity. You enabled him to pay for travel to university and not have to go hungry in the weeks before his student loan arrived. 

Since then, Michael’s Careers Specialist has provided himwith ongoing financial advice on how to manage his student loan, allowing him to concentrate on working towards his degree. 

Because of your support, more of our young people who are successful in gaining employment have been able to ‘bridge the gap’ between their last benefits payment and their first salary cheque, a gap which can be up to 6 weeks long. This quarter, they have been able to take up internships, jobs and other opportunities with Camden Borough Council, the Civil Service, the NHS, John Lewis, Superdrug and many more. 

Simon’s Story 

Simon has recently sustained 3 months' employment and says he really enjoys working with the team.For the first time since he started working with his Careers Specialistat DFF, Simonsays he has begun to feel confident about maintaining his tenancy and getting out of arrears, and that he wouldn’t have been able to pay for travel to work every day without the help of the Closing The Gap Fund. 

Rachel’s Story 

Rachel, who referred herself to Drive Forward, had a clear career goal to become a nurse. She has had personal experience of being in hospital which motivated her to give back to the NHS. She felt a nursing apprenticeship would suit her but knew that these are not easy to get. Working with her Careers Specialist, Ahmed, she decided that first applying for Health Care Assistant roles might be a good way into nursing, and at the same time give her valuable experience that would help in a later application for a nursing apprenticeship. 

Even though she felt nervous, with Ahmed’s support Rache attended an NHS event held at Drive Forward, where she found out lots of useful information about careers in the NHS, as well as meeting some people who could provide important input for her application. This improved her confidence enormously and encouraged Rachel toapply for a Health Care Assistant role. After some interview practice with Ahmed, Rachel was successful in her application and was offered a position, though one quite a distance from her home. 

Closing the Gap funding made all the difference here. Rachel was able to fund her travel costs and able to start work straight away.Rachel was extremely grateful for this, and now has the motivation and confidence to apply for nursing apprenticeship and embark on a wonderful career in nursing. 

Building Community 

We relish every success story at Drive Forward. At the same time, the darker eveningsand the approach of the festive season can mean the onset of a lonelierperiod for some care-leavers who might be without a wider support system. As well as our employment services, we run a programme simply focused on helping our young people build a wider network of relationships and friends andexpand social cohesion in the group. Although the focus is on fun, we learn from our young people that these gatherings can also help to boost their social confidence and feed into greater job application success as well. 

In the last quarter we have held successful events attended by both staff and young people including a music and food event with a Carnival theme (to coincide with the Notting Hill Carnival weekend), an Open Mic for bidding performers and meetings of our regular book club supported by Pan MacMillan. Preparations are now underway for our annual young people’s Christmas dinner planned for December. 

The approach of winter can also often see an uptick in demand for our subsidized counselling services. These have supported almost 100 young people since their inception; as well as providing important, sometimes crucial, mental health support to young people, these funded services generate typical returns many times higher than their cost measured in terms of better and sustained employment outcomes for participants, improved productivity and reduced staff turnover for their employers, and consequent savings in benefits payments.All these initiatives, along with our mentoring services, are designed to help care-experienced young people move into employment and improve their life-chances. 

 Your contribution to the Closing the Gap Fund means that when a young person’s skills and confidence secure them a job, they won’t be prevented from taking it up by a lack of a relatively small amount of short-term funding. 

Links:

• Impact Report
• Drive Forward Website

Dear Care Leaver Champion, 

The summer is finally here, and I hope that you’rein a position to fully enjoy it! 

For care-experienced young people working with Drive Forward, the summer holidays can often be a mixed bag of opportunity as well as challenges. As the Unite Foundation finds, care-experienced students face additional barriers not only when it comes to entering higher education, but also with regards to staying at university and completing their course. Just 13 per cent of young adults who have been looked after for more than a year are in higher education by age 19, compared to 43 per cent of non-care experienced 19 year olds. 

One of the biggest challenges for young people successfully making the transition from care to higher education is the question of where to go during the summer holidays. Going back to their family home is often not an option, which means that they rely on either the support of their local authority, or organisations like Unite Foundation who offer them all-year-round accommodation. 

On the other hand, the summer holds many opportunities for young people to broaden their horizons and build their skillset via summer internships, part-time jobs, or temporary employment. Even then, care-experienced individuals face additional hurdles like income thresholds preventing them from accepting full-time work.  

Your support is more vital than ever. Thank you for your continued belief in the potential of care-experienced young people! 

Over the past 3 months, your support has enabled 11 care-experienced young people to transitionthrough periods of financial hardship and step into sustainable employment. 

Jean’s story: 

The Closing the Gap fund enabled Jean to travel to and from work until she received her first paycheck. 

“I have been working since I left college... COVID, I think, changed everything. I tried to stay strong and not let it affect me... I pushed myself to have the courage and go back out there. I started helping elderly people, have worked in care homes and going to people’s houses to help with cleaning.I found my new job in another care home on Indeed and was excited and happy for myself that I got the job.” 

Jean went into care at a young age and developed anxiety in her teenage years. A constant lack of stability and security made her transition from foster care into independent living even more challenging and difficult. 

Hence,Jean was placed into ‘supported accommodation’ by the council, who informed her that she was currently not entitled to social housing. Supported accommodation is known for being very expensive and often the council pays the rent directly to the landlord. As in Jean’s case, her rent of £900 is covered by the council. 

To sustain herself, Jean needs to work, and Jean wants to work. The trouble is that if Jean starts full-timeemployment and her gross monthly income exceeds £1,081.20, she will be liable for her entire rent. This would leave her with only £45,3 per week to live on. Not an option! 

Jean decided to look for cheaper private accommodation, which is also a difficult endeavour in the current rental market. In the meantime, Jean continues to work part-time, earning just enough to keep her going, as her housing benefit is being reduced with every pound she earns above £94.40 per week. 

How have you helped? 

Jean was worried about getting to and from work, whilst still being able to afford essentials like food. The Closing the Gap fund provided her with a bus pass for her first month in work. 

Our Careers Specialist further worked with Jean to increase her budgeting skills and enable her to cover the cost by herself going forward. In the next step, we’ll look at how we can support Jean to build up some savings to being able to put down a deposit and move into private accommodation later in the year. 

Richie’s story: 

Richie first joined Drive Forward aged 17 when he was about to leave care. His council first introduced him to one of our Careers Specialists, who instantly noticed Richie’s potential to aspire for more. He always had a passion for everything tech and was set on pursuing a degree in IT.  

Over the next 2 years, they worked together to build and expand Richie’s skills and confidence. He also began working with a corporate mentor, who continued to support him way beyond the initial 6-moths programme and helped him secure his computer science course at university. 

Whilst working part-time to pay the bills, Richie continued to gain insight into the world of computer science and IT, successfully completing internships and work placements with Drive Forward’s brilliant employer partners. He then nailed a full-time job with a global IT consultancy. 

Aged only 20, Richie set up his own consultancy and after a while was able to pursue his passion more and more. But then, Covid hit the world, followed by a cost-of-living crisis. One thing led to another, and Richie found himself unemployed and relying on benefits. 

Richie kept in touch over the years and was able to easily step back into working with one of our Careers Specialists. Finally back on track, Richie is about to start a 3-months summer internship paid at London Living Wage with a prestigious infrastructure company. 

How have you helped? 

“I used the money to get to work. The funding enabled me to get to work which I didn’t have the means to do. It is hard when you don’t work for a while and then get employment as travel costs are hard to cover until payday. If I didn’t get the Closing the Gap fund, the company probably would’ve let me go for not being able to attend my induction week.” 

Rose’s Story: 

Rose is 25 years old and lives in London. Her passion is the stage, drama and music. She feels most alive when she is performing. Nevertheless, Rose is a realist and has a practical approach to life and work, “I mean, I love being creative, but I’m also very aware that somebody has got to pay the bills. And I learned early on that to me stability and financial security are very important.” 

Over the past five years, we accompaniedRose from part-time job, to education, drama school, and work in the social care sector. “My job was around working with young mum’s, supporting them and making sure they could adequately care for their children. It was very rewarding work, but also extremely emotionally and by the end physically draining. I knew that I needed a break. So, I reached back out to Drive Forward.” 

Over the past few months, Rose has been working with a Careers Specialist whilst getting involved in different creative projects with our Communications Team. She then applied for the Civil Service Care Leaver Internship and nailed a fulltime job with a government department. With interesting work, flexible working hours, and financial security, this opportunity allows Rose to progress and thrive. 

How have you helped?

“Closing the Gap has helped me with travel, lunch, and get my work uniform. I’mvery grateful for all the support you’ve given me!” 

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