By Juno Schwarz | Director of Fundraising & Communications
Welcome to our first report of the year! It’s been about 6 months since our team welcomed two new Employment Consultants; expanding our frontline team to seven brilliant practitioners dedicated to empowering care-experienced young people to build sustainable careers and successful lives for themselves.
And their work is already having an impact with over 100 young people joining Drive Forward since the beginning of the year already! We were also able to already celebrate some 30 job outcomes, additional work experience and training starts.
But all that glitters isn’t gold, and young people are still having to carry a double burden; struggling with the manifold challenges associated with their background in care, as well as the long-term impact of an economically taxing environment. Just think of the increase in the cost of living, gas prices, financial insecurity and job uncertainty etc.
Over the past couple of months, the Closing the Gap fund supported 5 people with a total of about £700; paying for travel, phone bills and internet, as well as small amounts of child care support and energy bills.
Rachel is 20 years old and has been working part-time since she was 17. When she turned 18, her Local Authority and corporate parent, moved her into so called supported accommodation; a semi-independent living unit with support staff present, usually 24/7, but this can vary widely across the country).
Her social worker at the time advised her sign up for Universal Credit before moving into her new accommodation, so that she could also claim housing benefits. Rachel did as she had been told and submitted a claim. Not having received any further information or details about future arrangements, Rachel continued working her part-time job, moved into the new place, and began thinking about what she wanted to do in the long-term; whether she wanted to go to university, or do an apprenticeship etc.
One day, Rachel comes home from work when she gets stopped at reception, “I’m afraid you’re £2000 in rent arrears and we may have to evict you,” they told her. Rachel was shocked! To the best of her knowledge, her rent was taken care of by the benefits she had applied for. Nobody had told her otherwise! Nobody had told her, that she wasn’t able to claim benefits because of her part-time job.
First things first, Rachel needed money, quickly. So, she did what she never thought she had to do, she borrowed money from her family; something that was more than just uncomfortable for her since growing up in care meant that she didn’t have a close relationship to her family at all.
All the while, the council assured her that they’d move her into cheaper accommodation, so that she could find her feet again. At the same time, they suggested for her to go onto the government backed Kickstart scheme, which would allow her to work for up 25 hours a week whilst still receiving Universal Credit payments for 6 months.
Rachel agreed and started a new job within the council. Her Personal Advisor (who took over from the Social Worker once Rachel turned 18) managed to put her into a different semi-independent accommodation. But, despite the fact that there was no more staff present, the rent almost as high as in her previous place (about £800/month), which meant that Rachel wasn't able to pay off her depts.
Felix, one of our Employment Consultants, has been working with Rachel since 2020; supporting her with the Kickstart application and providing her with practical and emotional support to help her move into more sustainable accommodation. But that’s a long-winded bureaucratic process, with many different stakeholders involved.
When her 6-months Kickstart contract ended, Rachel was asked to stay on and work more hours for a little more pay. Desperate for money, Rachel agreed, but to this day hasn’t received a new contract. In order to make ends meet and finally pay off her depts, she took on an additional job, working nights and weekends.
But Rachel doesn’t despair and sees the value in celebrating even the smallest of successes; like your support via the Closing the Gap fund allowing her to not worry about travel for three full months!
This in turn enabled Rachel to focus on planning and preparing for a brighter future. Together with her Employment Consultant Felix, she put together a compelling application for the Civil Service Care Leaver Internship Scheme and will start her new fulltime (and much better paid) position with the Foreign Office in the coming months!
THANK YOU!
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Thank you for your ongoing support and believing in the potential of young people!
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By Juno Schwarz | Director of Fundraising & Communications
By Juno Schwarz | Director of Fundraising & Communications
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