On 10th July 2024, the Drive Forward Foundation hosted its inaugural Care to Career Festival, an event set to become an annual fixture, growing in size and impact each year. In a world often focused on challenges, we wanted to highlight the positive paths taken by individuals who have grown up in care and demonstrate that their care experience does not define their future. The spotlight of our event was on sharing and celebrating the voices and stories of care-experienced individuals. Our aim was twofold: to celebrate the incredible journeys of these individuals and to raise awareness among our supporters about how we, as a community, can better support them.
Squire Patton Boggs generously hosted the event at their offices, providing event coordination, personalised touches, and delicious catering. Their support was integral to the success of this event, and we are incredibly grateful.
A very special guest
Thanks to the unwavering efforts of our Communications Manager, Mija Valdez, we were able to surprise the audience with an amazing keynote speaker. We were honoured to hear from our special guest, Fatima Whitbread MBE, a world javelin champion, world record holder, and double Olympic medallist. She was recently honoured with the Helen Rollason Award at the 2023 Sports Personality of the Year, recognising her outstanding achievements in the face of adversity.
Fatima captivated the room speaking about her personal story of growing up in a series of children’s homes, sports becoming a lifeline, and her then coach eventually adopting her.
Fatima recently launched her Fatima’s UK Campaign, which aims to support children in care and care leavers by instilling and strengthening self-worth and confidence, providing them with the necessary support and resources to become productive members of society.
Fatima’s journey and her commitment to supporting the futures of care-experienced individuals are incredibly motivating, and we are deeply thankful for her collaboration.
Creating bespoke opportunities
Camden Council and Drive Forward Foundation have been working together for several years, establishing robust working relationships, clear referral paths, and developing more efficient ways to provide holistic future-focused support to care-experienced young people.
Spearheaded by Senior Careers Specialist, Felix Fry, and Camden Councils Head of Virtual School, Mary Holder, we launched an ambitious new initiative to further individual’s career progression: ring-fenced 18-month paid internships, offering six young people the opportunity to gain invaluable insight and experience across various departments, including strategy, HR, refugee support, and HS2.
Our Care to Career Festival offered the ideal platform to premier an insightful film about the scheme and giving a platform to participants to share their views and experiences.
Leading with Lived Experience
No two care experiences are the same, nor are individual’s career journeys. Across a couple of panel discussions, speakers underscored this community’s rich diversity and resilience as well as individual’s dedication and passion to succeed and support each other.
On the panel we welcomed: Jordan Morgan, Drive Forward Trustee, founder of our Care Experienced Policy Forum; John Golding (John Lewis Partnership); Amelia Durkin (Squire Patton Boggs); Bradie Marques (Andron), longstanding Drive Forward Ambassador; Dominy Roe (Transform UK); Hayley Thomas (CBRE); Hayley Thomas (CBRE); Floyd Steadman OBE DL (Anthony Millard Consulting, Saracens FC); Stephen Haines (Peachtree Services); and Debbie Bright (fostering ambassador and TV personality).
Thank you for showing courage, authenticity, and being an inspiration for us all!
World Premier: Otherworld
The event presented the perfect frame for the world premier of care-experienced artist and singer-songwriter Xoul’s first music video. The film was produced in collaboration with Springhead Film Company and provided an opportunity for Drive Forward young people to gain hands-on experience in film production.
Promoting New Talent
Drive Forward is blessed with a pool of talented and ambitious young people eager to showcase their creative potential. Our guests enjoyed a number of fantastic performances across singing and spoken word.
A massive shoutout to King, Fran, Victoria, and Bradie for so brilliantly entertaining us!
Every day, our young people continue to inspire us, and it was incredible to see their confidence and talents on full display.
Let’s make #Caretocareer Festival 2025 even more impact.
To get involved please get in touch with Anita Riberio, Head of Partnerships:
anita@driveforwardfoundation.org
