Latest News
Dare To Care: Ending unnecessary Criminalisation
Over the last couple of years, the Drive Forward’s Care-Experienced Policy Forum has been working to change this situation. Through the work of the Forum, the need to reduce the unnecessary criminalisation of children and young adults with care-experience has been recognised by decision-makers in the criminal justice system. This has been reflected in the development and implementation of nationwide protocols, including the London protocol, which was co-produced with members of our Policy Forum.
Drive Forward presents: Open Mic Night
A Care Leavers Week Special!
Join us for a night of artistic expression and creativity for our first of many Open Mic Nights.
Friday, 27th October, 5-8PM
Press Release: New practical guide for lawyers to help reduce the over-criminalisation of care experienced children and young adults
Over the last couple of years, the Drive Forward’s Care Experienced Policy Forum has been working with youth justice experts to create a new guide for lawyers to use when representing care experienced young people. The guide has been completed in collaboration with the Transition to Adulthood Alliance, Child Rights & Youth Justice, Garden Court Chambers and the Youth Justice Legal Centre.
From Care to Career – Shabnam & Wunderman Thompson
“I was in Care due to family problems and was taken into care by my local authority. Everyone’s experience of being in care is so different – if I could summarise it to you in one sentence it’s sometimes a safe haven for some young people who go into a home and share the space with a loving caring family or it can be the most traumatic experience having to share a house with 12 to 20 or sometimes even more young people who are going through their hardest stage of life – where pain, anger, lost, abandonment feelings are visibly everywhere. Every care experienced young persons experience is different therefore it’s hard to describe what’s it like being in care.”
Power To Live: taking care-experienced mental health seriously
The collaboration between Drive Forward and Power to Live Foundations has made a positive impact on the lives of care-experienced youth. With shared values and a focus on mental health, over 20 young individuals have received behavioral psychotherapy sessions. Power to Live emphasizes behavioral change, helping clients detach from negative thoughts and move towards a value-driven life. Trust and therapeutic relationships are key, especially when working with youth who have experienced attachment trauma. Despite the challenges, the experience is immensely rewarding, as therapists witness the courage and resilience of their clients. This collaboration has not only helped the youth, but also allowed therapists to grow and connect on a deep level.
Join our team
We are looking for an experienced Employment Consultant with an extensive knowledge of working with care-experienced young people (16-24) to guide and support young people in their professional development to help them reach their full potential.
The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate a real passion for making a difference to the lives of our clients. They will possess the ability to build trusting relationships quickly, to broaden horizons, and encourage young people to be aspirational. They will have previous experience of designing and delivering employment based group activities and will be experts in working on a 1-2-1 basis with a diverse client group.
They will be adept at a wide range of career engagement activity and able to skilfully communicate the benefits of each career to their clients. This role will also require resilience, a belief that there is always a way forward and an innovative approach to youth engagement.
£200 million is not enough
Last week, the government responded to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
The Care Review has provided a once in a lifetime opportunity for a broken system to be fixed.
Above & Beyond 2022 Winners!
We set up our annual awards back in 2019 to celebrate the impact and acknowledge the effort our partners and mentors have made during the year in offering invaluable support, and fulfilling and sustainable employment to care-experienced young people across London.
For our 4th Partner Appreciation event, it was a tough decision when it came to deciding on a single winner.
So, we didn’t.
#PartnerAppreciation
The Final Partner Breakfast of 2022
When employers join Drive Forward as partners, they not only join a passionate community committed to supporting care-experienced young people into sustainable work but gain access to exclusive networking & learning opportunities, like our Partner Breakfasts.
See how our final Partner Breakfast of the year went!
Mentoring, it’s more than just Volunteering
Drive Forward’s Mentoring Programme has enabled countless care-experienced young people to sustain their employment, progress in their careers, and find success for themselves since 2016. We’ve seen that engaging in a professional mentoring relationship is often crucial to a young person (mentee) who wants to take charge of their professional as well as personal development.
For #NationalMentoringDay, we’re sharing Nahom’s journey with his mentor Joe Welton, Account Manager at Amazon Web Services.
The Key to Change: Work Placements
Care-experienced young people are one of the most vulnerable and overlooked groups in our society. Research has shown that educational attainment, levels of health and well-being and employment prospects are all significantly lower, whilst instances of homelessness or poor mental health are much higher. Despite youth unemployment rates having reduced, there is still an estimated 40% of young care-experienced people who are not in employment, education, or training.
Together with our partners, we are trying to change that by providing ring-fenced employment opportunities to enable these young people to move from care into a career of their own choice.
The Holistic Approach to Care
The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care report stated 5 missions. 1 of which was that “no young person should leave care without at least two loving relationships by 2027.”
Read how at Drive Forward, we focus on holistic care of our care-experienced young people offering everything from employment support, early intervention, and professional mentoring to counselling.
Between our staff, partners, mentors and supporters, we have always ensured stable and loving relationships surround our young people to enable them to thrive.
Boosting Careers: Latifah & the Civil Service Internship
“When I met Latifah, she was completing her degree whilst raising her daughter. Although her passion was and has always been theatre and performance, she was excited to hear about the Civil Service. Latifah told me how it was important for her as a care leaver to be represented in government and have access to these competitive opportunities that are difficult to get through mainstream recruitment.” – Heaven Teshome, Latifah’s Careers Manager
The Civil Service Care Leaver Internship Scheme
The Civil Service Care Leaver Internship Scheme provides ring-fenced 12-month paid employment opportunities for care leavers aged 18-30 across the country. With no formal qualifications required, the scheme is a prime example of potential-based recruitment.
This extraordinary initiative has achieved great success with a simple model based around support.
Read more on the Civil Service and be inspired to create your own ring-fenced opportunity with the help of our team!
Breakthrough Residential
After 3 successful years, our Breakthrough programme is almost complete. With just the graduation left to go, we were delighted to organise a special residential with Brathay, up in the beautiful Lake District for our care-experienced young people.
Creating Career Opportunities: The Civil Service
The Civil Service Care Leaver Internship Scheme provides ring-fenced 12-month paid employment opportunities for care leavers aged 18-30 across the country. With no formal qualifications required, the scheme is a prime example of potential-based recruitment.
This extraordinary initiative has come a long way since the first Drive Forward interns joined the Department for Culture, Media and Sports in 2016. The Civil Service Care Leaver Internship scheme has grown to offer some 500 ring-fenced opportunities to care-experienced young people across the UK annually. With the recent publication of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care calling for at least 3,500 new jobs or apprenticeships, we need more schemes like this! Read more about how you can start a similar scheme in your company!
Network & Nourish
For many young people – and in fact many of us – the prospect of dressing up smartly and stepping into a room with professionals, is uncomfortable at best and anxiety inducing at worst.
Eager to help young people take the edge off networking, our partners at BIE Executive designed an innovative and unique event. Network & Nourish aims at demystifying the world of networking and exposing the person behind the job title, they brought a variety of business leaders, high-level professionals, and young people together.
Lives in Care: Stories of Resilience
Mindhouse Productions, the makers of the award-winning radio series and podcast Grounded With Louis Theroux, is teaming up with BBC Radio 4 and our Tony Simpson to explore life in the British care system.
How Being Mentored Helped to Reduce Loneliness During Covid
For this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week the topic is loneliness. With 1 in 5 of us feeling lonely at work and with the pressures of Covid-19 restricting social connection, read how one of our care-experienced young people benefited from having mentor through that time.
Dealing with Loss due to Knife Crime
Maya joins us as a guest writer as she bravely shares her experience with knife crime. Knife crime is something that many care-experienced young people have come across and Maya expresses how she dealt with the impact it had on her life.
Sensitive reading ahead.
A History of Criminalisation
For Care Experienced History Month 2022 we are sharing the history of our Policy Forum’s campaign on reducing criminalisation of care-experienced young people.
With care-experienced young people being criminalised 15 times more than their peers it’s easy to see why this is such an important issue to take on.
Work place discrimination highest in London
For International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2022, we want to share our own Anti-Racism principles here at Drive Forward.
These principles apply towards staff and care-experienced young people alike. Care-experienced young people have enough to deal with without adding racism to the list.
Read on to find out what our care-experienced young people want employers to know about racial discrimination in the work place.
Creating Opportunities inside the Film Industry
For Care Day 2022 the theme is “It takes a Village to Raise a Child,” and through our bespoke work placements, apprenticeships and mentoring opportunities, we wanted to showcase the wonderful talent of our care-experienced young people and how they flourish when they are in a supportive environment. Our partners and supporters are vital members of our village because they provide so many opportunities, offer their expertise and create a wider network of support for our care-experienced young people’s careers.
Read on to see how Kennington Film Studios approached us to create one such opportunity.
The Apprenticeship Experience
It’s National Apprenticeship Week 2022 and we’re sharing Joseph’s and Shazia’s experiences of their apprenticeships in Digital Marketing and Construction!
Apprenticeships are great opportunities for care-experienced young people because they provide real work experience and a chance to earn a qualification all whilst being paid!
“I chose to do an apprenticeship because it’s a great way to learn whilst actually doing the job. I get support from the Multiverse coaches who help me throughout the apprenticeship and I also get paid whilst learning. So, I thought it made sense to try out an apprenticeship because it’s a great alternative to university at this moment.” – Joseph
“Even though I still have to study, it’s a good opportunity and promises the career progression I need. I want to build my career to the level where I’m making a good living, being paid a good wage and I’m happy with where I am by 25. ” – Shazia
Despite the amazing opportunities apprenticeships can have for care-experienced young people, too many are still not accessible. With low pay our young people often have to sacrifice career progression for the sake of making ends meet!
Read more to see how you can help change this!
Taking Advantage of the Advantage Programme
Care leavers are 38% more likely to drop out of university than their peers, and those who make it through the other end often find themselves standing at a cliffs edge with no support network to rely on as they try to navigate life after university. The Office for National Statistics estimates that almost one-third of British graduates move back in with their parents after graduation. Care-experienced graduates don’t have that option; they need to find the means to support themselves when it’s time to leave student halls. That’s where our Advantage Programme comes in; equipping them with the networks, skills, and confidence needed to compete on today’s graduate job market, our programme aims to enable those young people transition from university into a career of their own choice.
Drive Forward calls for urgent government action on mental health
Drive Forward is calling on the Government to take urgent action to tackle the unacceptably high levels of mental health disorders among young people leaving the care system.
In a submission to the Government’s Independent Review into Children’s Social Care, we are calling for there to be at least one NHS-funded mental health practitioner in every local authority in England to provide bespoke support to care leavers.
Mental Health – Time for Action
We believe all care leavers should receive bespoke, easy-to-access mental health support. That’s why we’re bringing together some of the key people who have the power to make a difference at a special event, focusing on care experienced young people and mental health.
Young people of colour in care
I’d say from around year 3 (8 years old) I could remember strange grown-ups coming round to my house and agitating my mum and dad. I can remember having briefings with my parents on what I could and couldn’t say to these strangers and the knowledge that if I failed in these duties that I would likely be taken away from my parents with my siblings, and that we would be separated after that to live with different people. I can remember a big argument one of these strangers had with my dad that culminated in two security guards accompanying that particular stranger on all subsequent visits. This stranger was one that had become a somewhat permanent fixture in my young life, and I remember being interviewed by her in a separate room and telling her very little about what was actually going on and anything I did say was positive. It was ‘Us’ against ‘them’.
Join Our Team – Strategic Partnerships Director
Exciting new job opportunity at Drive Forward!
The Strategic Partnerships Director is part of the senior management team at Drive Forward Foundation overseeing the Corporate Engagement and Mentoring team. The aim of the Corporate Engagement and Mentoring team is to build a pipeline to sustained and fulfilling employment for care-experienced young people through ring-fenced employment opportunities and a range of other activities including career insight sessions, work experience, internship opportunities and access to a professional mentor.
The Strategic Partners Director is responsible for developing a team strategy that is in line with the overall organisations strategy and to line manage the Head of Corporate Engagement and Head of Mentoring. They are also responsible for building and maintaining relationships with employers as well as developing new and innovative ways of working.
Do you have at least 2 years experience of managing a programme; building strategic partnerships and successfully sourced employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups? If so we want to hear from you!
Click here to read the full job specification!
The 411 on Being A Wunderman Thompson Intern!
Shanelle gives us an insight into working at Wunderman Thompson – a global marketing agency that specialises in growing brands creatively, during her time there as a Strategy Intern!
Work experience not only allows the young people Drive Forward are supporting the chance to unlock their potential and explore their future careers but companies realise there’s a lot to gain by having enthusiastic talent on their side!
Join our team – Employment Consultant
We are looking for an experienced Employment Consultant with an extensive knowledge of working with care-experienced young people (16-24) to guide and support young people in their professional development to help them reach their full potential.
The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate a real passion for making a difference to the lives of our clients. They will possess the ability to build trusting relationships quickly, to broaden horizons, and encourage young people to be aspirational. They will have previous experience of designing and delivering employment based group activities and will be experts in working on a 1-2-1 basis with a diverse client group.
They will be adept at a wide range of career engagement activity and able to skilfully communicate the benefits of each career to their clients. This role will also require resilience, a belief that there is always a way forward and an innovative approach to youth engagement.
Burn Out: International Self-Care Day
For International Self-Care Day, Maya is back with another blog piece but this time she is challenging our perceptions of self care. Are we really taking the time we need to recharge properly or are we actually burning ourselves out?
Maya explores self sabotage, over committed social events and the benefits of distraction.
Read on for self care with a difference!
Challenging perceptions of learning disabilities and learning difficulties
Care-experienced young people go through a lot when it comes to navigating the ins and outs of each foster care home they find themselves in.
They have to work out how to sustain meaningful relationships and find a way into further education or employment, all whilst carrying trauma. To top this off, some of the young people working with Drive Forward may also deal with learning difficulties and/or learning disabilities.
Read more to learn more about the common learning challenges our young people have to balance, tips on how to manage conditions and how Drive Forward tailor’s our approach to put the needs and aspirations of our young people at the centre of our work.
World Refugee Day: the challenges facing unaccompanied minors
The 20th of June is the UN World’s Refugee Day. On this occasion, I would like to share a few insights and experiences I gained from supporting our young people with experience of foster and/or residential care in London.
If you know DFF, you also know that our mission is to support young care-experienced people into sustainable employment and to help them realize their full potential. And you might also know that each young person has a different story, different challenges and different strengths. Every day I learn something new from working with these wonderful talented young people and I am often amazed by how resilient and strong many of them are. What inspires me in particular, is to see the ambition and the drive of those young people that came to the UK as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UCAS). These are young people who are seeking asylum in the UK but who have been separated from their parents or carers. While their claim is processed, they are cared for by a local authority.
Ready. Steady. Go. Introducing our London Marathon Runner 2021
2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the world-famous London Marathon and for the first time in Drive Forward’s history there will be a participant bearing our logo!
Andy Hearne, who works with our partners at The Crown Estate, has taken up the challenge of running the 26.219 miles around the River Thames on 3 October this year. Wanting to find out more about Andy’s motivations, his training, and why he believes that supporting care-experienced young people into fulfilling careers, we’ve asked him some questions.
What barristers can do to help decriminalise care
Half of the children detained in Youth Offending Institutes are, or have been, in the care system. That’s despite the fact that children in care make up less than one percent of the child population. Research conducted by the Howard League for Penal Reform has found that unnecessary police call-outs and mental health difficulties are two of the main factors behind this statistic.
Prevention is better than the cure, and our Policy Forum’s criminalisation subgroup has mainly focused on how we can avoid children in care coming into contact with the criminal justice system in the first place. The group has worked extensively with the Metropolitan Police and the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime on ways to achieve this. Forcing carers, social workers and other agents to ask themselves the question ‘Would this be good enough for my child’, our young people helped to write a protocol, released in March this year, aimed at keeping police call-outs as a last resort.
Drive Forward with Mentoring. The benefits of building trusted relationships
Introduced in 2015, our mentoring scheme has since developed into a comprehensive programme encompassing bespoke training for professional mentors, continuous support for both mentors and mentees, and additional professional development opportunities for care-experienced young people. What began as a small pilot with only a handful of participants, is now an integral part of the Drive Forward approach to enable care-experienced youth in London to achieve their full potential through sustainable and fulfilling employment.
We asked one of our very first participants, Sally, about the benefits that she has experienced from building and maintaining a trusted and consistent mentoring relationship.
Global day of (corporate) parents
Parenting is probably the most demanding and critical job in the world. Taking responsibility for a child, for children; caring for them, nurturing them, looking after their every need over years and years, takes patience, love, and courage. The Global Day of Parents emphasises this pivotal role families play in the protection and development of children all around the world. It celebrates their selfless commitment and efforts, and highlights the great value they bring to society every single day.
Strong Partnerships: Superdrug & Drive Forward
In January 2020, Superdrug became an official partner of Drive Forward, and provided placement opportunities in key roles across head office and pharmacy.
2019 saw the start of this rewarding partnership. We kicked off by attending a couple of ‘Interview Prep & Pizza’ events with members of Superdrug’s Access All Areas social mobility network, which was a fantastic introduction to the initiative.
Modupe’s Story. Joining the Civil Service
Thinking back to your early 20s, did you know what you wanted to do with your life? For young people coming out of care, the years between their 18th and 25th birthday are pivotal. Before their local authority closes their case forever, these young people have to make sure that they are financially, emotionally, and practically stable. That means having a secure place to live, sufficient income, and a support network. However, actually making those decisions that will impact one’s life in the long-term is not an easy task.
From Care to Career – it’s not always a straight line
“Young people who are in or about to leave local authority care are often vulnerable, isolated, more likely to suffer with mental health issues, and face bigger barriers when trying to find work. Helping a supporting a young man like Darnell who has had so many obstacles, and challenges in life and not always made the best decision for himself but is so positive, and determined to overcome them you just can’t help but admire and want help, and it has been a real privilege and pleasure. Young men like him are great examples to others, he has a great attitude and I hope the small opportunity we have given him will help him to go on a achieve his goals” Matthew Weatherby, Social Value Manger at Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd
We all have a right to good mental health
You undergo many changes when transitioning from foster child to care leaver when you turn 18. Social workers turn into PAs (Personal Advisors). You are expected to rely on the welfare state if not in employment or student loans and grants if you are at university. You also grow up extremely quickly. By the age of 19, I had my own flat and was living alone.
It was shortly after moving in that I had my first mental health breakdown. Due to moving ‘out of borough’, the therapies that I had waited a year to access were stopped at my most vulnerable point. Since I was a new patient in that area, it meant that I had to join the back of the queue for help all over again
Deaf and in Care. Insights, experiences and advice
Deafness is something that is not talked about a lot, especially not in the context of the care system; the support available in residential homes or foster families. To learn more about the issue and how it impacts on care-experienced young people’s lives, we took the opportunity to speak to Linn, a care-experienced young person from London.
Linn and I have been working together on Drive Forward Foundation’s Breakthrough Programme, an initiative aimed at young people in care with the aim of enabling them to progress personally and professionally as they prepare for adulthood.
From Care to Career – the long way to sustainable employment
I am number 4 of 5 children my mother had with my father. My father had 13 children in total of which I was number 9. My mother made the decision for me to come and live with family friends in England as a bid to give me a ‘better life’ based on my family circumstances at the time. I came to England in 2002 and I lived in South London with this family for almost 8 years. The first 4 years of living with them, I was not allowed out of the house and was not allowed traditional education but was merely acting as the family’s live-in au-pair. I endured countless amounts of physical, emotional and mental abuse whilst living with the family.
I had no friends and no family to confide in. As I got older, I could not take it anymore which led to me running away and reporting my situation to the police. The police introduced me to Merton social services who supported me for most of my early adult years from 2010 until I finished university in 2019.
Join our team – Communications Officer
Working alongside the Director of Fundraising & Communications, you will play a pivotal role in bringing our charity’s communications up to the next level!
In your role, you’ll be collaborating with the whole of our team, creating interesting and engaging content to help raise awareness, find new partners, and enable more care-experienced young people to achieve their full potential.
This a very varied role in which you’ll have the opportunity to learn and improve your skills across content production (blogging, social media, videos, podcast) as well as managing multiple social media channels, and occasional press work.
Care leavers with refugee status – the limiting factor of the status
When children or young people (under the age of 18) come to the UK on their own, with no family to look after them in this country, then the state becomes responsible for them; they go into care. Their immigration background, however, often leaves them facing continuous difficulties in accessing state benefits, education and employment, even after they leave care. This issue is particularity pressing for those whose status is uncertain or temporary.
Remembering Stephen Lawrence: Interview with Bebert Longi
On 22 April 1993, the country was shocked by the murder of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence in an unprovoked, racist attack. The subsequent investigation, and public enquiry highlighted the structural and systemic racism across the country.
Here at Drive Forward we would like to honour this year’s Stephen Lawrence Day by highlighting how having a supportive network, opportunity to grow and develop can provide lifelong, blended learning and development opportunities for care experienced young professionals.
We interviewed Drive Forward young person Bebert Longi about how he overcomes challenges and what he would like to ask Stephen Lawrence if he had the chance to speak with him.
Will Brexit create a new ‘Windrush generation’?
Care-experienced young people from the EU who have not had applications made on their behalf to remain in the UK after Brexit are at risk of becoming “undocumented” adults. After 30th June 2021, these people will find themselves living in the UK unlawfully, without the right to work, claim benefits, rent a home, hold a bank account, access further education, and could face deportation.
Care Experience & Childhood Memories
Our childhood memories shape who we are, how we see ourselves and the way that we relate to those around us. These memories are intricately shaped by our family. Parents reminisce with their children several times a day – reliving holidays, occasions, funny moments or behaviours. Consider your own memories – are they related to stories you have heard your mum tell countless times at family occasions? Do you have clear images from a moment in your childhood that is connected to the photographs you have up in your house? In research into how we form childhood memories, researchers themselves recount that they have misremembered events that happened to their sibling as their own because of the strong emotional connection.
Female care leavers and the construction of identity
Many women exiting the care system, despite the barriers they face, receive exemplary grades and obtain employment in highly competitive fields such as business, law, social care, politics and finance. However, statistically this isn’t as common as it should be. Statistically, the barriers facing these young women can have serious impacts on their lives, with the complexities of being a woman intersecting with the experience of leaving care. Emotional barriers such as building confidence in order to navigate male-dominated workforces and the pressures of conforming to gender roles which don’t necessarily reflect their identity often tend to go unspoken, underexplored and unsupported by governmental and other relevant authorities.
A brief history of the UK care system
This short article is an attempt to shed some light on the history of institutional care in Britain. I will draw attention to some of the most important Legal Acts and Figures and provide a rough timeline from the first traces of out-of-home care in 1552 (De Wilde, 2018) to the beginning of our present care system in the 20th century. This article is by no means exhaustive, and only scratches the surface of historical developments that lead us to where we are today. Hence I will signpost a few books and articles that go into more depth about the history of care.
New London-wide protocol aims to reduce criminalisation of care-experienced young people
Following the national recognition for our Policy Forum’s work on ending the unnecessary criminalisation of children and young people in care by the Howard League for Penal Reform last year, the London protocol on reducing criminalisation has finally been published in March 2021. We’re also delighted to find that the Policy Forum’s suggestion of a bespoke summary document aimed are young people has been realised as well.
The advantage of being real (not happy)
There is a common misconception of the terms “happiness” and “positivity” that I, as a practitioner of positive psychology often encounter. People tend to think of happiness as this desirable state in which everything is good, pleasant and peaceful. Most people think of it as a permanent state of being that we hope to achieve one day in future. We long for it and we work hard towards it, but we never seem to be able to really grasp it. In my experience, this longing for happiness has two major downsides.
LGBTQ+ History Month 2021
Fighting against social and systemic injustice underlines our mission at Drive Forward of enabling care-experienced young people to fulfill their full potential in sustainable and fulfilling employment. When we started our work 10 years ago, it has been clear early on that ‘care experience’ is a broad and dynamic field of multiple barriers, challenges, disadvantage, an array of emotions, different pathways, but also opportunities, achievements, and resilience. Care experience is just one part of an Indvidual’s identity; it’s an intersectional experience that spans across race, religion, gender, class, and sexuality. Care-experienced LGBTQ+ young people are particularly prone to facing stigma from family, friends and professionals, making it even harder to ‘come out’ in care.
Apprenticeships. A chance to thrive.
Apprenticeships can be a fantastic alternative to university for young people who have left care; offering the chance to enter work and gain qualifications at the same time. Apprenticeships are also a great fit for those who are practically minded and learn best on the job!
2020, a year of doubt, catastrophe, and self-development
That year has been anything but comfortable and nice. The range of emotions experienced has been scarily eye opening. Getting through everything without knowing what is to come next has definitely been a character building, perspective breaking and dream shaking experience.
Sad news about our founder
It is with great sadness that we report our founder and CEO Martha Wansbrough has passed away after a year-long battle with cancer.
Above & Beyond Awards 2020
As I sit at home and look at my laptop at a time, I was supposed to be hosting a big in-person event with lots of hugs, good food and drink, dedicated to our partners, I’m greeted with 40 different smiling faces that represents the work we have done over the past 3 years. It represents the support provided and the dedication to the remarkable partners we work with. This year has been tough, but together we all got through it and I feel so proud to work with everyone.
Envy – Blending Together
This week’s article will solely focus on the feeling of envy and how we perceive, absorb and manage it. Whether you’re on the receiving end or you happen to be the one that’s dishing it out, I have chosen to address this as a topic because I feel like I’ve seen a lot of this emotion in the past year.
Why must we let go of old paradigms in education when it comes to children in care
Children come into care for a variety of reasons, at the start of 2020, there were 78,150 children in care in England alone. Many, if not the majority, have all suffered some form of neglect or traumatic experiences pre-care. In many situations, parents not getting the support they needed was a significant factor in this but this, in many examples, is not recognised by the child. It becomes easy to personalise their experiences and conclude that they were not worthy of love, broken or were unwanted. It is no wonder that with such generalisations made at such an early age, any other adults who ‘intervene’ may be pushed away, untrusted or seen as a threat. After all, in some instances, in the child’s mind, the only adults who should have unconditionally loved them, didn’t want them. Understanding attachment theory is of paramount importance when working with these children during their education.
Caught in the Simulation: Consciously and Unconsciously
Being in lockdown for a while, the way we interact with the world has changed for a lot of us but nonetheless is still a vital part of our functioning, whether we dread or enjoy it. Some days we may feel different when it comes to responding to WhatsApp’s and other days, we may feel like completely switching everything off and grounding ourselves or even not engaging in any activity at all. Mentally and/or physically.
Blind Recruitment – the Drive Forward way
No matter whether you work for the private, the public, or the third sector, the pandemic has forced all of us to get creative in order to achieve our goals, and for some of us, to simply survive. For Drive Forward it meant finding realistic, affordable, and effective ways to keep the young people we support as well our corporate partners engaged. Lucky for us, our partners have been at the forefront of showing passion and commitment, and driving innovation.
In 2019 Drive Forward forged a partnership with Distilled. Having recently merged with Brainlabs, their recruitment team decided to start over and do things differently.
Race, BLM and the care system
Politics, pandemics, protests. 2020 has been an eventful year. As the world came to terms with new threats and challenges posed by an infectious disease placing the livelihoods of many on standby and resulting in the tragic loss of life, we soon learned about the spread of another pre-existing societal disease that has had a somewhat similar effect.
Black History Month 2020
For us at Drive Forward, Black History Month 2020 is a chance to remember, to discover, and to learn. Our team has compiled a collection of biographic one-pagers, each representing parts of black history written across our capital and beyond. Some of the people we write about will be familiar to you and some might not, but all of them have a connection to one or more places in Britain.
Our aim is to unearth a lost, forgotten or hidden history about some of the black people who shaped this country and its people. Of course, one page won’t do anybody’s life justice. Thus, it’s up to you to take in the information and do your own digging into the many stimulating stories we’ve collected.
Let yourself be inspired by their achievements; be curious about their journeys; and be motivated to explore both historical and contemporary stories!
The Dive Forward Carnival
In the future, 2020 will not only be the year a global pandemic hit our planet, but it will also be known as the ‘year of cancellations’. Causing much disappointment in each Londoner, the Notting Hill Carnival was no exception.
So, in order to not miss out on the colourful celebrations of Art, Cuisine, Fashion and Music, we decided to run our own Covid-responsible Carnival at Drive Forward. The underlying idea was to highlight each of these four aspects of culture for the young people and staff to learn about and enjoy together.
Post Lockdown Party with Breakthrough
The last few months have been an interesting time for us all. We have all had to deal with change in some shape or form. For the young people on the Breakthrough programme, this has also been their experience but amplified due to their circumstances.
As we reflect on the uncertainties we have faced as adults during the coronavirus hysteria of 2020, we can only begin to imagine what it must have been like for a child of the state to grow up during this historical time.
Driving Innovation – Baringa Partners
In a previous blog we’ve talked about how our corporate partners are driving innovation during the pandemic. Since law firm Squire Patton Boggs pioneered taking the traditional work placement into the digital realm, another handful of our partners have followed suite.
Today, we’re talking to Caroline Theodore, Manager at Baringa Partners, a business and technology constancy.
Good Mental Health – not a luxury, but a right
Unfortunately, poor mental health is very common among the care-experienced population and can make life even more difficult for them. Things such as employment, personal care and wellbeing, or independent living are much harder to maintain when struggling with one’s mental health. There are already specialised services for care leavers such as housing officers and personal advisers, and it’s time we matched this provision with specialised mental health services too.
Currently, we are focusing on gaining more insight into the different experiences of care leavers and collecting their suggestions, ideas, and innovations to create a more comprehensive picture of what a well-functioning mental health service provision for care-experienced people would look like.
From independence to interdependence. Mitigating the impact of Covid-19
Partnerships with employers have always been a core part of the Drive Forward model, enabling us to provide opportunities to young adults leaving the care system which, without the usual support networks, they would otherwise not have access to. At the beginning of lockdown, as our partners postponed work placements, business prospects retreated and we heard countless reports of the impact on youth unemployment, we worried about what the future of these partnerships might hold.
The story so far – from care to career
I come from humble beginnings; being raised in Queens Crescent was an experience which has led me to become the man I am today. Where I grew up, a lot of crime and anti-social behaviour was the norm and I knew at heart I could be someone who doesn’t fit into the typical narrative of a young black Congolese male from Camden. Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I experienced the harassment from police in the area; having to stay home after school as 200 police were raiding my neighbourhood; consistently being stopped and searched throughout my secondary school years (even being stopped and search on my 15th birthday!).
From Care to Career: Walid’s story
Some stories of young people working with us read like a list of high level goals, giving you the satisfying, warm and tingling feeling of checking off the boxes as you go along. Walid’s is such a story, taking you on a journey from seemingly unsurmountable challenges to eventual success.
Taking care: internally and externally
We all have different ways in which we approach and cope with things. We also have different ways in which we take care of ourselves. We have different ways in which we treat the people around us as well. My ways may not suit you and your ways may not suit me. But what we both have in common, is the need to look after ourselves. It’s an essential part of our functioning as human beings even though we sometimes require a reminder from time to time. In this article I’ll cover a few areas I’ve managed to improve in and will share a few tips that work for me.
Change happens – Life goes on
The pandemic has hit the young people we’re working with extremely hard. Many of them have lost their jobs right at the beginning of the crisis in February-March, especially the younger ones 19, 20 years old. A lot of our young people are given a council flat or studio at a young age, which means that they’ve a lot of financial responsibilities. Several of them have additional caring duties looking after young children, siblings or sick family members.
Active in your activism – a thread
There’s no amount of words that can encapsulate how horrible the current world state is that we’re in. I’m not talking coronavirus and stress, I’m talking the suffering of millions, a whole lot of racism and a whole lot of injustice. Being a young person that’s grown up in London I’ve seen my closest friends experience things I’ll never even come close to comprehending let alone knowing what it feels like to go through such pain. This week, I want to highlight the seriousness of what’s going on around us and share whatever awareness I hold on the situation as I think having a voice across platforms should be utilised to its full potential right now.
Guest blog: Lucid Dreaming by Daviona Plowright
Have you ever wondered if it was possible to control your dreams? Ever woken up once and thought to yourself “whoa that was a good dream?” wishing to go back and continue it?
Well, what if I told you there was a way for you to dream about whatever you wanted, you’ll be in full control with your imagination being the limit!
Black Lives Matter.
As an organisation whose foundations lie in addressing social injustice, challenging issues of race and racial inequalities as well as fighting racism is central to Drive Forward’s vision of a society where all care-experienced people enjoy opportunity, empathy and respect.
We realise, however, that in order to do this we need to look within ourselves and continuously scrutinize our own practice, norms and behaviours. Only by being consistent with our own self-improvement and projecting that image to the outside, can we continue to be an effective driver for positive change within our immediate environment and beyond.
Pinch the procrastination
Procrastination, a topic I haven’t written on yet but sure have thought a lot about. I find myself feeling lazy from time to time, some days avoiding everything and everyone but other days not so much. I find that it comes in micro doses and when it arrives it tends to get very comfortable, almost snug in its seat.
Virtual Mentoring – challenging, but possible!
Although I am aware that it would be much better to be together in a physical environment as the human touch is important, what I am also experiencing is that showing presence and attention as a mentor is the fundamental thing, regardless of the way we use to communicate. I consider the technological tools we have as a blessing in this situation, in particular for mentors like me who have the precious chance to support young people in this delicate transition phase.
Care Leavers & University: Farhia’s story
Farhia always wanted to go to university. She remembers people telling her as a child, that a solid university education is the best way to a good career. The outlook of stability, a regular income, not having to worry about how to get by all seemed like good reasons for Farhia to work hard and earn her place at university.
Mentor of the Month: Lulu Burrough
Two years down the line, I have LOVED every minute. My Mentee is a remarkable individual and hugely talented; in the time we’ve been paired together he’s attended interviews, secured a permanent role, and delivered a number of successful projects. We have very similar interests and, when we haven’t needed to look at CVs or to practise interview techniques, we have widely varied what we do together.
I’ve transformed my life through a job that I love
A year ago, I could not have imagined I’d be in a well-paid full-time job that I really enjoy. Back then it felt like I had no control over my life because I missed out on my education. I’m a Londoner, but for two years I ended up as a total stranger in Manchester at a school for people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The teachers thought I should be doing GCSEs but the school didn’t have anything on offer.
Real Recognise Real
Have you been finding yourself pondering people from the past or replaying long lost scenarios in your head lately? Welcome to the club! As we’re sat indoors either keeping busy or lounging around, this gives us way too much time to fall back into old thought patterns and shady places. We find ourselves hoping that those who’ve done us wrong in the past are OK, even those who took us to some of the darkest places we’ve ever been to. There’s nothing wrong with genuinely hoping the best for others, even those who hurt us, but there’s a big difference in hoping so and actively expressing it. As much as you might miss a specific person, especially during the pandemic it’s highly important you don’t take yourself to the same place where you felt pain. I strongly believe that nobody can heal whilst being in the same place where their hurt was caused. This includes half-hearted friendships, failed talking stages and toxic ex’s, the entire lot!
Give Me SpaceTime
You find yourself swamped with deadlines despite being at home. You find yourself exhausted regardless of how much you’ve slept. There are dishes to do and you need to wash your hair. Return that call. Check emails again. Attend a lengthy lecture on Microsoft Teams and don’t forget all the backed-up FaceTime calls in your schedule.
From care to career – a young person’s perspective
Before I went into care, I constantly had arguments with my parents; to the point that I became homeless for nine months. A lot has happened after that, but eventually I was really lucky to find myself living with a loving foster family who have taken on the roles of a great parent for me.
Learning to swim – pandemic plus OCD plus anxiety
I don’t know about you but I know I’ve been dealt my fair share of anxiety and panic attacks in the last few weeks. I think this is a topic that isn’t thought about enough amidst all the other shocking scary stuff going on. So, here I am shedding light on just that. You don’t have to particularly belong to the group of OCD sufferers to feel corona’s noose tightening around your neck. Existing during this period is enough.
Belonging in the Workplace
According to a recent report conducted by Coram Voice on challenging stigma in the care system, 1 in 10 care leavers felt that, as a care leaver, they have been treated worse than their contemporaries. This has been reflected in conversations with individuals we work with at Drive Forward, many of whom are frustrated by hearing the same negative statistics and stories in the media and by professionals working in the care system. This can have an impact on how individuals see themselves as well as how they are treated in the workplace. The most common reason that individuals who we work with leave their jobs is that they feel isolated from their colleagues, different and undervalued.
From Connection to Action
Transition and change are inevitable. Omnipresent, ongoing, even if we do not always notice. These days, transition and change turn into our daily companion. They can carry uncertainty and fear, and often it is difficult to understand them as a friend rather than an enemy.
From zoom calls to virtual health support, what is it that young people need and want amid the COVID-crisis?
What effect does looking into people’s living space via a video call have on us and, more importantly, on them? We are barraged with views of luxurious looking homes and backgrounds on television; the theme seems to be vast bookshelves, awards and pictures, high ceilings and (for want of a better phrase) “middle-class” homes.
The PhotoVoice Project
Last month, me and a group of my fellow Compass friends joined a project known as the PhotoVoice Project. It aims to help children on their journey through care. What is different about PhotoVoice, is that it’s much more interactive.
Deflated Balloons & Blissful ignorance
I’m going to start by being super blunt. I am mentally drained, physically exhausted and quite frankly tired of the cycle we all seem to be unintentionally engaged in. We are programmed to switch on the news and get up to date with that’s going on around us. We are scheduled to wake up and check our phones in the morning. All of this, yet we never programme ourselves for time out or a minute away from the madness.
What’s changed for Employment Consultants since the lockdown?
Since the lockdown, my role seems to have taken a new shape. The decrease in available employment opportunities and the increase in basic needs such as food, shelter, company and positivism have caused me as an Employment Consultant to adapt to the needs of our young people.
Guest Blog by Glenn Meads: Getting Started – Writing Tips
How do you get started without falling into the age old trap of no writing portfolio to show anyone in order to get a foot in the door? Here are some tips which I have myself over the years.
The Yin & Yang components
For years, I’ve been entertaining the toxic habit of skipping breakfast after barely getting enough sleep only to then wonder why I’d find myself drifting to sleep in lessons or why I was so low in mood. Well, the answer to that is energy. Energy is essential to function. We gain energy through eating, sleeping, or exercise. Like a well-kept machine, we too have to recharge our batteries from time to time.
Mentor of the Month: James Fitzpatrick
I’ve only recently started volunteering with DFF and I’m currently in my first mentoring relationship. So far, I’ve found it challenging – but in a good way. It’s already helped me to really think about how well I listen and how I can best support the person I’m working with to identify and work towards their own goals.
Little by little: You can’t control it all, but you can at least make your bed
Lockdown is in full swing and I must say it’s causing a variety of feelings in me and around me. From feeling trapped, anxious and scared to feeling particularly creative, reflective and humbled by the global chaos.
My Old Friend, Isolation
One day, this pandemic will be over and isolation, depression and anxiety for many will be that horrible time when they experienced something that care leavers have experienced their whole lives and many will continue to, long after Corona has done its deed.
It’s a strange period of time
Self-care comes in many shapes and sizes, whether its eating what you love, face timing a friend, banging on a face mask listening to your favourite record, going through your skincare routine or lounging in bed til 12 in the afternoon just do it and do NOT feel guilty about it.
COVID-19 Care Leaver Relief Fund #BecauseWeCare
“My fears are that I will be on my own with no food and no electricity and can’t afford to feed my cats. As I have depression it will make me feel separated and alone.” – R. 23, care leaver
What can I do to support care-experienced young people through the COVID-19 crisis?
In these challenging times it is more important than ever to stick together and create positive change. So, here are some suggestions on how you can have a real impact, from the comfort of your home.
Care charities warn of risk to care leavers during COVID-19 crisis
On 26th March, we wrote to the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson CBE MP, calling on the government to ensure that care leavers are properly supported throughout the coronavirus crisis.
COVID-19 – Recovery in a Crisis
For the thousands of people who live with an eating disorder – myself included – the pandemic is wreaking havoc with our lives and recoveries. Being unable to buy food is an absolute nightmare – ‘nourish to flourish’ is a lot harder when the only food in the shops seem to be soups and low-calorie items – living off which could lead to a rapid spiral.
Going strong: The DFF National Policy Forum
The Drive Forward Policy Forum has been going for three years now and come from strength to strength. Personally, I am most excited for the expansion of our National Policy Forum. Though our London group of over 30 care leavers is well established, we set out in 2019 to expand to pastures new. Since then, we have connected with care-experienced young people right across the UK.
Policy in Focus: Higher Education Support in Greater Manchester
Five members of our Policy Forum, who are all students at different higher education institutions in Manchester, present their experience of what it is like to be a care leaver at university.
A care leaver’s view on ‘social distancing’
I’m a 23-year-old care leaver who unfortunately lives alone. This is my little story on how we can keep busy in this time of boredom.
#CareDay20 – celebrating young people in all their glory
At Drive Forward, we see care-experienced people doing amazing things every day. We know that the stereotypes and statistics do not
reflect the real story. That’s why we celebrate Care Day – to take the time to appreciate all of the fantastic care-experienced people that we work with and everything they have achieved.
Civil Service kick-off
We are very happy and proud that 33 young people working with Drive Forward have been successful with their applications; that represents over 20% of all the openings available! Over the next couple of weeks, they will join different Departments ranging from the Department for Education to the foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Our Impact this year
As we’re approaching the last weeks of 2019, we’re happy to share some of the successes and challenges Drive Forward and our young people have faced this year.
Going above and beyond
Corporate partnerships are a central pillar of the Drive Forward approach to enabling care-experienced young people to successfully move from care into a career. Over the past decade, our partners have shown an outstanding level of dedication, creativity and commitment and our network has continued to grow in strength from year to year. We’re very proud to having created a community of businesses and individuals, who all share the belief that sustainable employment, supportive working environments and a career of their own choice offer young people from care an opportunity to live up to their potential and create a fulfilled life for themselves.
Join Us At Drive Forward
Make sure you meet the following:
- Are you care-experienced?
You are care-experienced if you have spent time in foster care, residential care (children's home), under a Special Guardianship Order and/ or supported accommodation outside of the family.
- Are you between 16 and 26 years old?
- Do you have the right to work in the UK?
- Do you live in one of the London boroughs?
- Do you want to move forward with your career?
Then get in contact with us:
You can either contact us directly or complete the form below. Alternatively, you can be referred to us by an agency like Job Centre Plus or by your Leaving Care Team. Just talk to them about Drive Forward and ask them to complete this form.
Moreover, if you’re a foster parent or professional working with young people who fit the above criteria and want to find out more about our services or refer a young person to us, then please don’t hesitate to contact us or complete this form!
