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