By Juno R. Schwarz | Project Leader
Your support has a lasting impact on young peoples’ lives
Since our last report in 2016, you helped us raise £1,050 to support care leavers to transition into sustainable employment. With your generous donations, you have enabled Anna, Colin, Patrick, Ahmed, Claire, and many more to attend job interviews, travel from and to work, paying their bills and not go hungry whilst waiting for their first paycheck.
Thank you, for your commitment and ongoing support, and for believing in young peoples’ potential to succeed!
The following stories are examples of how challenging life can be for a young care leaver starting out in their career. They showcase the cracks in the social security net and the gaps within the system. They also represent young peoples’ determination not only to survive but to make positive changes and grow.
Anna, 19
When Anna started her apprenticeship with one of the top consulting agencies in the city, she could not have been happier. What she had not taken into account were her benefits stopping over night. Anna was renting a room for £700 a month because Croydon Council were not able to provide her with social housing when she moved out of care about a year ago. On her apprenticeship, she was earning £940 a month. This effectively left her with £240 to cover bills, food, travel etc. The situation got worse when Anna was given 2 months notice from her landlord just after she had applied for Universal Credit. It was just before Christmas and finding a new place to stay proved difficult. “I didn’t have the money to put down a deposit!” One week before she was supposed to move out of her home, her Universal Credit application came back negative. Social Services advised her to sit out a formal eviction process; something Anna had no intention of doing. This is when Anna came to our offices, clueless about what to do next. Thanks to all of you who support our Closing the Gap Fund, we were able to help Anna and pay £200 towards her deposit. She moved into a new home by the New Year.
Colin, 24
Colin arrived in the UK by himself as an Afghan refugee at the age of 16, suffering from severe anxiety and PTSD. He left care at 23 and has been on ESA ever since. In his latest assessment, Colin was marked ‘fit for work’. It is not as if Colin did not want to work, in fact, he was just sitting his exams for a CSCS card in order to follow his passion and go into construction. However, when ESA stopped, Colin did not have any money to spend on food, travel or heating. “At least I had a roof over my head, living in social housing. But I didn’t know what to do next.” Knowing that a JSA application could take up to 6 weeks, his Employment Consultant at Drive Forward immediately applied for emergency support from Lambeth Council. However, Colin could only apply for this kind of support once, leaving him penniless once again. “They told me to borrow money from friends and family. But I have no family and my friends don’t have any money to spare either.” Through the Closing the Gap Fund, we were able to support Colin with £57 a week over a period of 5 weeks. In this time, he completed his CSCS training, successfully applied for an apprenticeship in construction and received his first pay package.
Patrick, 20
Patrick always wanted to go into retail. He had worked as a shop assistant before and liked the sales environment. When he joined Drive Forward in October last year, we immediately signed him up for an Assessment Day at Hotel Chocolat. Unsurprisingly Patrick did brilliantly on the day and was offered a Sales Adviser role, which he started mid-November. With payday being set at the end of December, and his JSA having stopped the minute he started work, Patrick was left with no money in the bank. At first, his Employment Consultant put Patrick in touch with his local food bank. Then, he contacted REES Foundation, who provided financial support towards Patrick’s travel expenses. The situation became worse when Patrick lost his job just before Christmas. Although he immediately applied for JSA, we knew that his claim would not go through until the New Year. The Closing the Gap Fund enabled us to support Patrick with food and essentials until early 2017. Patrick has just attended another Assessment Day event and will start work experience with Premier Inn hotels next month.
Getting to the bottom of the problem
Whilst the fund was initially set up as a response to care leavers facing financial constraints when moving into employment, we also understand that treating the symptoms is not enough. In order to mitigate the problem in the long term, it is necessary to understand the root causes, on the individual’s side as well as on the policy side. Therefore, we have started a research project and our Ambassadors have been collecting case studies from care leavers across London.
We still have a long way to go, but we are confident that with our Ambassadors’ dedication and your continued commitment, we are able to make change happen!
Thank you!
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