Team: Participation and Engagement Team

Main Submission:

Merton Council is proud to present its innovative approach to supporting care-experienced children and young people through the Total Respect training programme, a cornerstone of our commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Essential to this initiative is the newly created role of ‘Expert by Experience Trainer’; a role for care leavers with the purpose of co-delivering the training.

This submission highlights how this new initiative delivers excellence for care leavers, embedding their lived experiences at the heart of practitioner training, corporate parenting strategies, and creating a ripple effect of positive change.

The motivation behind this work stems from our commitment to addressing the challenges faced by care leavers, and our pledge to continue to shape services involving youth voice. We recognise that care-experienced young people often encounter systemic barriers so to bridge this gap, we were inspired to create an initiative that provided care leavers with a new opportunity to have their voice heard, and their lived experience directly informed our practice. Our ambitions are rooted in ensuring children and young people are central to our practice. This approach empowers care leavers, not only as trainers but as advocates and leaders.

To successfully achieve our aims, and to ensure young people’s voices were central to the delivery of the training, we created the role of ‘Expert by Experience Trainer’; a unique role that empowers care leavers to deliver the training and shape services that directly impact them, while fostering an environment of respect and understanding across the Council. For care leavers, this offered a meaningful and paid role within the Council, skill development, and opportunities to turn their experiences into means for positive change. For practitioners, it provides them a chance to learn directly from young people and gain direct understanding and insights – a mode of learning that research has identified as highly valued by social workers (YouGov, 2021).

Recruiting care leavers for the role involved a collaborative process, with input from existing care-experienced groups such as our Care Leaver Forum, called Our Voice, and our Young Inspectors which also involve care-experienced young people. The Workforce and Practice Development team (WPD), along with the Participation team, worked together with our Recruitment team to ensure the recruitment process was suitable and transparent. Successful candidates went on to receive initial training, including facilitation skills training to build their confidence ensuring effective delivery of the training sessions. Trainers worked with Practice Leads to build the training, thereby integrating the respective expertise in lived experience, participation and training delivery. The trainers identified exercises that would have the most impact on practitioners, including activities to address barriers to participation such as racism, ableism and oppressive practice. The training was developed over three months and launched in June 2024; the content was further shaped following the first delivery based on the trainers’ experience and feedback from participants.

Two sessions have been delivered so far to of 21 participants, from a breadth of teams across Children’s Social Care and Youth Inclusion This demonstrates our commitment to building knowledge and skills in promoting children’s rights and participation at all stages of a child’s journey. Participants work in wide-ranging roles at different levels of the practice system, including apprentice, newly qualified and experienced Social Workers, Personal Advisors, Team and Service Managers, Principal Social Worker and Head of Service.

A core component of the training is the invitation to participants to make pledges to action; the range of participants so far has enabled positive change impacting across the organisation. In line with the Total Respect model, we ‘check in’ with individual participants on the pledges made; this provides accountability, maintains momentum and translates learning into meaningful practice improvements that have a concrete effect on the experiences of children and young people.

Some examples of pledges made:

• To place less focus on verbal communication in direct work with children and think more creatively.
• Ensure staff include children the applicants are caring for within the assessment to capture their views of the suggested/ volunteered applicant. [in the context of SGO assessments]
• Introduce worker profiles with Personal Advisors to support transitions for children
• All foster carers to have welcome books
• Explore what is in the local authority to support participation so that I can share this with young people I am working with.

Principles of co-production are built into all aspects of Total Respect, and we actively seek feedback from participants. 100% of participants have rated themselves as ‘very satisfied’ with the course; comments shared in feedback include:

• This was impactful emotionally and the learning will remain in my head and my heart
• Excellent trainers and I enjoyed hearing directly from care experienced young people
• I really enjoyed today, I felt it was informative and I stepped out of my comfort zone
• Thank you for shining the light and providing the opportunity to understand lived experiences and helping us to practice more effectively and authentically

An example of feedback 2 months post-training:
“I still feel that the training was really worthwhile because it has had a genuine impact on my practice. It has made me think more about ensuring children’s right to participate in conversations being had about their lives.”

Feedback from Expert by Experience Trainers:
“Training for Total Respect has been a fulfilling experience, allowing me to educate others and advocate for children in care and care-experienced individuals. The programme’s commitment to creating meaningful change has made it a worthwhile thing to be involved in.”

“As a young person and expert by experience Trainer, it is rewarding to see the impact the training is making through the different departments within the council. Attendees are sharing the powerful impact of the training with their colleagues; hence why there is an ongoing increase in the number of participants. I strongly believe that the more people participate and pledge to changes the more efficient and targeted support we can provide to our children and young people within Merton and outside.”

Supporting Information:

YouGov, 2021. Social Work and Continuing Professional Development: For Social Work England. Retrieved online: CPD research report:

Team: Brent Children and Young People Service

Main Submission:

The London Borough of Brent entered into a 5-year strategic partnership with Barnados in 2019 called Brent Care Journeys (BCJ) which aimed to bring about transformational change in the children’s social care system, leading to better outcomes for young people, and to provide learning for the wider social care system. BCJ aimed to achieve these goals through collaboration with care-experienced young people and professionals based on a robust partnership.

The project started in late 2019 with agreement between Barnardo’s and Brent Council on a set of project goals, a timeline, and expectations around the roles and responsibilities and resources of each core partner. Barnardo’s provided funding for a team (two project workers and one service manager, with support from an off-site Assistant Director) to be based on Brent Council premises where Brent would provide ‘in-kind’ resources like room facilities and staff support.

The three key outcome areas were:
Outcome 1: Strategic Partnership with Care-Experienced Young People
Outcome 2: Viable Partnership Working Towards Outcomes
Outcome 3: Improvements in Children’s Social Care Systems

The ambition, and ultimate aim, of this partnership was to improve the children social care system to support young people to achieve “positive destinations”, a broader concept of positive outcomes for care experienced young people which went beyond the traditional focus on education, employment and training.

The partnership with Barnados ended in mid-2024, and this Practice Spotlight is focused on the successes, achievements and learning from our BCJ programme between 2019-2024 which has inspired and led us to introduce BCJ 2.0, the next phase in our “participation” journey with care experienced children and young people.

Our vision for BCJ 2.0 has been to use “co-design” as a foundation methodology for our ongoing participation work, using the key principles of relationships and investing time and resources in building trusting relationship, valuing lived expertise, sharing power, enabling reciprocity, supporting young people’s agency, setting realistic goals and sharing the outcomes of the work.

The challenges that have presented in the transition from BCJ to BCJ 2.0 are summarised below:

• Maintaining the identity of BCJ to not lose momentum created and continue the legacy of BCJ
• Young people responded positively to the ‘independence’ of BCJ from the local authority Participation
  Offer which struggled to increase membership during the initial stages of BCJ and moved towards more joint work later on.
• Governance of BCJ 2.0- what should this look like, what teams/services should be included, and how decisions would be made.
• How we were going to incorporate an offer for 25+ young people

During the course of our BCJ partnership the following activities and initiatives were delivered:

• ‘Test and Learn’ projects, using a co-design methodology, resulting in tangible resources and tools that have been inspired, developed and championed by care experienced young people. This has included: Welcome Packs for young people moving into semi-independent placements now part of commissioning agreements. Activity budgets for relationship building between key worker and young people. Pre-birth Assessment tool designed by Care Leavers who were parents which are now used within Brent’s pre-birth assessment work.
• Social, educational and leisure activities.
• Co-designed and facilitated training for staff, carers and Ofsted.
• Power Groups: workshops or group activities that were designed and delivered directly by young people for young people, e.g. Vibes in the Kitchen, Brothers, Therapart.
• Events: Kiln Theatre-BCJ Showcase “Dear Social Services”, Listen Up, BCJ Fun Affair.

As a result of our BCJ journey so far and the foundation established, our BCJ 2.0 have continued with a commitment to the key principles described in Q1. Our achievements to date have included:

• Brent Participation Strategy has been developed using similar ideological framework to broaden out this approach to participation across the wider CYP department and council.
• We have prioritised the retention of BCJ staff to create consistency for young people in the transition from BCJ to BCJ 2.0.
• We have developed and delivered paid employment opportunities for care experienced young people in different CYP roles: Quality Care Ambassadors, Commissioning and Recruitment, Participation.
• BCJ 2.0 members have led changes to the way in which Corporate Parenting Committee (CPC) functions and engages with our care experienced young people. This started with a workshop led by young people for CPC members and BCJ 2.0 members to think about how CPC could change to create a space that fulfils its purpose and encourages collaboration with young people in a friendly, participatory, and relaxed way.
• BCJ 2.0 members have made representations at CPC for Brent Council to support a motion to recognise ‘care as a protected characteristic’. This was agreed by members of the CPC and a motion was drafted and taken to Full Council in November 2024. This motion was unanimously passed.

The BCJ journey in Brent has been championed and supported by senior leaders from the very beginning, which has set the tone for the strategic partnership in the first instance, and now our transition into BCJ 2.0. This commitment has been instrumental as a driving force throughout.

Delivering a programme like BCJ 2.0 requires buy-in from a range of teams and partners, including the Leaving Care service and individual Personal Advisors as direct coduits to providing information and encouraging young people to sign up and get involved, the Participation Team, the Brent Virtual School, and external partners from health and education.

BCJ 2.0 represents our commitment as a local authority to relational and anti-oppressive practice by being willing to shift power dynamics, value lived experience, and be present in shared spaces with care experienced young people as collaborators and equals. This has been evidenced in the recent changes made to our Corporate Parenting Committee structure led by care experienced young people and supported by Counsellors, our successful Care Leaver led campaign for recognising “care as a protected characteristic, and in the recent refresh of our Care Leaver Local Offer.

Outcomes reported included improvements to:

• social connections, relationships and support networks.

Many of the young people who were interviewed talked about the strong, meaningful relationships that they had developed with other Care Journeys peers throughout the course of the projects, and how important these had become to them. For several young people, this was the first time that they had been able to develop social connections with peers who shared their experience of the care system and for this reason they felt more understood and accepted within these new friendship groups.

“You all see each other for who you are rather than what’s happened to you.” (Young person)

• mental and physical wellbeing, confidence, sense of identity and self-esteem.

There is strong evidence that when young people established trust with Care Journeys staff, were entrusted with responsibility, and engaged in group activities and projects, they experienced increases in confidence and self-esteem. For example, in a survey conducted among young people in Brent, the majority stated that Care Journeys had helped them become a more confident person and enhanced their ability to advocate for themselves. Furthermore, there were examples demonstrating that young people felt more assured speaking up in group settings and during meetings with professionals.

“And when I stand back, especially there’s one particular young person, where before I’d seen her in a participation session […] she wasn’t that confident. And then fast forward, she’s involved in Care Journeys and I can see her, just the growth that she’s done. It’s really good. She’s going to go places.” (PA)

• skills, knowledge and understanding.

Young people who had been involved in projects like Alpha Labs said that they had developed a broader knowledge of issues that are present throughout the care system at a national level. Furthermore, they were not only aware of what problems exist, but had also developed an understanding of how their skills and experiences put them in a good position to help tackle these problems, which fed into a greater motivation to do so.

“You’ve got a unique ability to be able to help with these things cause you’ve lived it, it’s lived experience.” (Young person)

• pursuit of personal goals (education, employment and training and other positive destinations).

Care Journeys has also helped some young people to find out what they want to do in the future, guiding them towards clarifying their aspirations, supporting them with their motivation to pursue their goals and revealed opportunities that they had not previously considered available to them.

“It’s opened my eyes up to different opportunities. I now believe if I wanted to, I could start my own project like this.” (Young person)

The formal evaluation, Positive Destinations, found a range of positive outcomes for the young people who were substantially involved (such as attending several activities or being involved over a long time period), as these were the people who were interviewed or surveyed. Direct feedback from the young people involved is found in the final digest and outcome reports attached.

‘Young people participating in Care Journeys reported having developed more positive relationships with peers and staff, though there was mixed evidence regarding the impact on relationships with peers and professionals outside of Care Journeys. Increased confidence, self-esteem, and wellbeing was reported by many young people. Many also developed a better understanding of the care system and acquired useful skills. Some young people reported an enhanced sense of purpose and future goals, with anecdotal evidence suggesting support for transitions into EET.

“We always are listened to […] They always went around in a circle, and they always made sure that each young person is given a chance to speak. […] They have definitely shown that we can work together towards a common goal, so it was a very positive experience for me.” (Young person)

It was not possible to directly evidence the impact Care Journeys had on the wider population of young people that were not involved or only marginally. There was the perception from staff, however, that Care Journeys influenced attitudes and behaviours among local authority staff and that care leavers were higher on the agenda.

“In terms of raising the profile of young care-experienced people nationally and opening up these conversations, I think Care Journeys has done a really good job of that.” (Staff member)

Supporting Information:

Positive Destinations final evaluation documents

BCJ Welcome Pack video made by young people

Team: Camden apprenticeships team

Partners: Corporate Parenting Service, Drive Foundation

Main Submission:

Camden commenced a pilot Care Leaver Internship programme in 2021. Camden has worked closely with Drive Forward to design and develop the scheme to meet the needs of Care Leavers ensuring that it could create the best possible placement opportunity. Drive Forward also worked with the apprenticeship team and host service to provide advice and support to candidates and managers in the lead up to and over the course of the placements.

Internship structure

The first internship pilot in Camden was offered as an 18-month paid work placement. There were no entry requirements set just a competency-based assessment. This ensured that the programme was as inclusive and accessible as possible. The internship was paid at London Living Wage. This ensured that the candidate could afford to engage with the placement as still afford to pay rent and have money for other living expenses. The placement was successful and led to the forming of a larger scheme.

Camden Internship scheme – Cohort 1

Learning taken from the pilot was used to shape Camden’s first cohort of internships ring-fenced for Camden care leavers, which launched in September 2023. Six interns were successfully appointed; two in HR, one in HS2, one in Strategy, one in Participation, and one in Refugee Support.

As per the pilot, the internships were for a duration of 18 months and paid at the London Living Wage. Costs for the placements were secured from within Directorate budgets and top-sliced, following the approach used for the Apprenticeship Levy. There were no specific entry requirements for the roles, and interns were not required to work towards a qualification.

To further support the interns, Camden provided a £3,000 top-up to their salaries, paid monthly. This additional funding mirrors the government bursary offered to care leavers.

Intern managers were provided with trauma-informed practice training, delivered by Drive Forward. It was emphasised that internships are paid development opportunities rather than traditional jobs, providing space for interns to make mistakes and learn in a supportive environment. Managers were reminded that the roles are likely to attract individuals at various stages of their personal and professional development, and external factors may sometimes affect attendance during the internship period so flexibility may be required.

During their contracts, interns were offered a series of employability-focused training sessions on a range of topics to support their understanding of expectations within the workplace. Budgeting training was also included to assist with independent living skills.

Both interns and managers were invited quarterly forums and offered additional support as required by Camden Apprenticeships team. The team sought regular feedback and carried out a review in July 2024 to ensure suggested improvements could be incorporated into future schemes.

To support with onward progression, Camden Apprenticeships worked with Drive Forward to deliver two career planning workshops, focused on job searching, applications and interview techniques. They have been encouraged and supported to start looking for internal and external opportunities as their contract ends draw closer. One intern has already accessed a permanent role in the Council. Two others have undertaken interviews and continue to apply for roles. A fourth is considering an apprenticeship. All remaining interns are offered support with applications and mock interviews to give them the best chance of success and report feeling more positive and confident about their career prospects following their participation in the scheme.

Camden Internships: Cohort 2 – enhanced offer

Plans are underway to launch the second cohort of Camden internships in April 2025. Six more placements are currently being sourced, with vacancies due to go live in January 2025. An enhanced package of support has been introduced in recognition of challenges faced by previous interns. In addition to existing provision and support, this includes a travelcard to cover the full 18 months and lunch vouchers for the first 3 months. Interns will also be offered the option to undertake an apprenticeship as part of their contract, although this is not mandatory. A more extensive series of employability training will be offered on a weekly basis at the start of the internship contract to thoroughly address gaps in knowledge and confidence, as well as providing increased opportunities for interns to form a peer group and share experiences.

Intern Feedback (provided in 2022 by participant of the pilot)

From the moment the internship was open, I knew I had to apply it was something that I had wanted to get myself into along the supporting people sector, but I hadn’t had any previous work in the area, so I knew this internship would have given me better insight into what this all involves. Since the start of the application process, I felt very supported from people within Camden leaving care team, to then going and getting an interview which, I felt was a very good process from start to finish. I then got offered the internship which I was thrilled about as it was something I was so excited to get started with and learn as it was a passion of mine. I would say so far from my internship it is something I would 100% recommend being offered to others who are interested as it gives you so many skills to learn which you wouldn’t get to do just in one placement it gives you an insight into all different aspects of supporting people from all different ages and backgrounds and needs. I have learnt how to adapt to different situations, I have learnt multiple new skills I never would have learnt anywhere else. And I was given a chance to start my journey in learning what supporting people means.

Main Submission:

Context 

Care leavers with mental health and wellbeing needs are often rejected by high thresholds of adults’ mental health services and the remit of CAMHS due to being over the age of 18.  Although online and self-help options have improved in recent years, care leavers who need mental health support have been trapped between child and adult specialist services. We know that care leavers have higher prevalence of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (McAllister, ‘Independent Review of Children’s Social Care’ 2022). We also noted an increase in mental health needs of care leavers post Covid-19 pandemic. Care leavers are known to be at increased risk of isolation, loneliness and mental health problems.   

Our approach 

Greenwich Integrated Clinical Team has been established by joint funding from the LA, ICB and CAMHS and OXLEAS Adults Mental Health Services. The team is co-located within Children’s Services, and it hosts a variety of clinical roles including two specialist mental health workers, who are employed by CAMHS but clinically supervised by OXLEAS Adults Mental Health Services, providing access to direct mental health interventions specifically for young people with care experience. In addition, we created a new ‘Networks for Life’ Coordinator role, funded by Public Health, which aims to (re)connect care leavers with their networks including their families, ensuring that these young people do not experience a ‘cliff-edge’ when exiting care and can build loving relationships.  

Strong governance arrangements include a regular Project Board, chaired by the DCS and attended by relevant senior partners.  

The clinicians’ work exemplifies best practice through both direct engagement with young people and indirect consultation with Personal Advisors to strengthen their support networks. 

Direct engagement: 

• Consultation and Initial Assessments: Conducting thorough assessments to understand mental health needs, history, and current situations. 

• Addressing trauma: Focusing on trauma-informed care to help young people process and heal from past experiences. 

• Developing coping skills: Teaching practical techniques to manage stress and difficult emotions. 

• Providing clinical interventions as per need of care leavers. 

• Supporting young people to repair existing relationships and develop healthy relationships. 

• Managing difficult emotions: Providing strategies to handle emotions and stress. 

• Helping young people make sense of their story: Using a trauma-informed approach to guide interactions and interventions. 

Indirect engagement: 

• Consultation with PAs: working closely with PAs to ensure coordinated care. 

• Attending practice meetings: discussing and planning care strategies. 

• Referrals and liaison: coordinating with other services for comprehensive support. 

• Training and workshops: plans to host training for PAs and social work staff on CBT and running themed workshops. 

• Systemic thinking: Applying a systematic practice framework and involving systemic practitioners to address the broader context of the young person’s life. 

The program addresses several substantial obstacles: 

• Linking young people to Adult Services: providing a connection for young people not known to Adult Services and navigating these services. 

• Service failure to engage with young people: clinicians do not close cases early for young people who are not able to engage with us, ensuring continuous support. 

• Transition from CAMHS: acting as an effective transition point for those known to CAMHS, addressing information sharing issues post-18. 

• Out of borough support: offering services to every care leaver regardless of geography, including virtual sessions. 

The initiative builds capacity within the system by: 

• Case Presentations: presenting cases to a Clinical Psychotherapist every four to five weeks. 

• Supporting PAs: helping PAs discuss mental health concerns and providing details of current professionals working with young people. 

• Referrals: making referrals for mental health assessments and to mental health hubs in the borough. 

• Linking with other services: connecting with other services for young people who do not meet the threshold for other relevant services. 

Although the initiative has only been live for less than six months, it is already showing significant impact: 

• Referrals and Assessments: the service has received 47 referrals between September and December 2024, with direct work starting with a number of young people. 

• Engagement with Young People: many young people who were previously averse to engaging with formal mental health services are now comfortable engaging with our clinicians. This increased engagement is partly due to the clinicians being part of the Leaving Care Service rather than a formal mental health service, which helps reduce the stigma associated with mental health services. 

Some of the feedback captured by these young people: 

“You help join the dots together of what I share”  

“I appreciate your help a lot, thank you, never know how important”  

“I have a great support system around me. I feel safe and supported even when things get tough.” 

Our Care Leavers Forum has also asked to be included in the consultation meetings with Personal Advisors and the consultation process has changed as a result.

Team: Virtual School

Main Submission:

Introduction to the Initiative

Hammersmith and Fulham’s Virtual School is committed to improving outcomes for care leavers by focusing on education, employment, and independent living skills. Recognising the unique challenges faced by care-experienced young people, the initiative has implemented innovative strategies to bridge gaps in support and provide tailored opportunities. Through a collaborative approach involving Council departments, local businesses, and educational institutions, this initiative ensures that care leavers are equipped for successful futures. By fostering meaningful partnerships and directly employing care-experienced young people, the initiative exemplifies the principles of Corporate Parenting in action.

Motivations and Objectives

The primary motivations behind this initiative stem from the need to bridge the gap between care leavers and sustainable employment opportunities while fostering independence and resilience. Key objectives include:

• Providing bespoke educational and employment support.
• Empowering care leavers to become work-ready and access meaningful opportunities.
• Developing a supportive infrastructure that emphasises corporate responsibility
  across the Council and local businesses.
• Elevating the voice of care-experienced young people in shaping services and
  opportunities

Actions and Activities

Partnership with UCL

The Promoting the Achievement of Care Leavers (PACL) programme, in collaboration with UCL, has been instrumental in advancing this initiative. Key activities included:

• Creating a 5-week accredited employability programme with Adult Learning Services.
• Establishing an internal work experience framework.
• Training local employers to make opportunities accessible to care-experienced young
  people.
• Aligning departmental work with Council strategies and local opportunities

Apprenticeship Programme

Hammersmith and Fulham Council has exemplified leadership by directly employing three care-experienced apprentices, including two within the Virtual School as youth support workers. This initiative highlights the value care leavers bring to the workplace while addressing the unique support needs of this group. Key aspects include:

• Parental-Style Mentoring and Support: Recognising that care-experienced young people often lack the familial guidance available to their peers, the programme provides an enhanced level of mentoring and parenting-style support. This includes helping apprentices navigate workplace expectations, develop professional skills, and build confidence.
• Recruiting Beyond Local Care Leavers: To avoid stigma and ensure inclusivity, the programme is open to care-experienced young people beyond the local authority’s cohort. This approach promotes a sense of independence and broadens the scope of opportunity for all participants.
• Creating a Supportive Workplace Environment: Structures and policies have been designed to address challenges unique to care-experienced apprentices, fostering an environment where they can thrive and contribute meaningfully.

Career and Skills Development

To complement the apprenticeship programme, the Virtual School has hosted career events in collaboration with partners like Atkins Realis, Chelsea FC Foundation, and the Civil Service Internship Programme. Outcomes include:

• Securing seven apprenticeships across various sectors, including construction, plumbing, the Civil Service, and Transport for London.
• Helping young people gain work experience, job interviews, and critical feedback for career development.

Evidence of Impact

Quantitative Achievements

• Four students graduated in 2024 in diverse fields such as Journalism, Fashion, Social Work, and Data Analysis.
• Seven young people secured apprenticeships in 2023/24, with others progressing in higher education.
• Increased engagement in career events and drop-in sessions.

Qualitative Impact

The initiative has transformed the lives of many care leavers. UCL’s feedback highlights the holistic approach: “The needs and voices of your care-experienced young people have very much been at the heart of your planning and decision-making, driving forward your strategic vision.” This acknowledgment underscores the initiative’s success in aligning Corporate Parenting with actionable results.

Notable individual successes include:

• A young person overcoming mental health challenges to complete the academic year through inter-agency support.
• Another care leaver balancing parenthood and studies, successfully completing their second year of university.

Voice of the Child

Central to this initiative is the integration of care leavers’ voices in every aspect of planning and delivery. Examples include:

• Apprentices sharing feedback to refine mentorship and support systems.
• Participants of the employability programme expressing increased confidence and readiness for the workforce.
• Testimonials highlighting the value of the Council’s tailored approach to addressing individual needs.

Lessons Learned and Transferability

Challenges and Solutions

The experience of employing care-experienced young people has revealed the importance of providing nurturing mentorship and realistic role expectations.
Recognising these needs, the Council introduced:

• Tailored mentoring programmes.
• Open recruitment practices to reduce stigma.

Broader Relevance

Other Local Authorities can replicate this model by:

1. Building cross-sector partnerships to create employment pipelines.
2. Emphasising Corporate Parenting as a shared responsibility.
3. Leveraging social value commitments to fund resources such as laptops and employability training.
4. Integrating care leavers’ voices to guide service development.

Conclusion

This initiative exemplifies innovation, impact, and collaboration in supporting care leavers. By combining the strengths of UCL’s PACL programme, apprenticeship opportunities, and holistic mentorship, Hammersmith and Fulham Council demonstrates a replicable model of best practice. It not only changes lives but also provides a roadmap for other Local Authorities to follow in delivering excellence for care leavers.

Team: Participation Team – Care Experience young adults

Partners: Children in Care and Care Leavers

Main Submission:

‘Cooking with Friends’ is a Merton Council project aimed at providing care leavers with the opportunity to learn new skills in the kitchen, make new friends and socialise over food. This space provides young people with a chance to create a peer support network, learn life skills and have their say. Those who attend receive a cookbook each session and a voucher of their choice for continuous engagement. Sessions ran every two weeks, over a period of three months and have been a success with young people. The project started during the Covid-19 pandemic, when Merton Council heard from care leavers about the challenges of accessing healthy food and how the lockdowns caused feelings of isolation. Like most of us during that time, they were unable to meet in person due to restrictions. Therefore, they decided to create an online platform where young people were able to socialise safely.

To combat feelings of isolation and the lack of healthy food, the Participation and Engagement team launched ‘Cooking with Friends’ via a digital platform. Young people received food parcels and joined an online forum to cook together, with cooking sessions led by a professional chef who made cooking easy and accessible for everyone. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Participation and Engagement team has continued to focus on healthy lifestyles and ensuring food is accessible to those who need it most.

Care leavers have access to their own food and toiletry pantry, which can be accessed through the Care Leaver Forum or through their Personal Advisor. There have also been additional links to the sports and leisure offer, through Merton Council’s Borough of Sport initiative.

The project re-launched in September 2024 to provide a new cohort of care leavers with the same opportunity, however this time cooking sessions took place in person at a community venue.

For young people leaving care, the transition into adulthood can be particularly challenging. Programmes such as ‘Cooking with Friends’ ease this transition by offering both practical support and emotional connection, making young people better prepared for independent living.

The programme also contributes to having a positive mental health and wellbeing outlook as communal activities offer a safe space for care leavers to express themselves and we know that activities such as cooking help to reduce stress and anxiety.

Cooking with Friends encourages young people to prepare and enjoy meals that are both fun and nutritious, all while ensuring a safe environment. It helps them develop essential life skills, such as grocery shopping, budgeting, and making fresh meals that are budget-friendly. This program turns cooking into an enjoyable experience, allowing young people to connect with new friends and foster a sense of community.

Merton Council is dedicated to ensuring all care leavers have the right skills to live a healthy adult life. The Corporate Parenting service is continually hearing from young people about the skills they need, with the ‘Cooking with Friends’ programme being one avenue of shaping existing skills or trying something new. Additionally, sustaining the programme over the long term requires ongoing feedback from those who are engaged. Adapting the programme based on the views of care leavers ensuring that it remains relevant and engaging, therefore we will continue to facilitate the programme as long as young people remain involved.

Several important lessons can be drawn from this programme, especially as it has evolved from an online initiative to an in-person programme in 2024. One key lesson is based around flexibility; the shift to in-person sessions demonstrated the need for an adaptable model of delivery based around young people’s commitments, such as education, work, and social activities, as well as reducing any barriers they may face such as travel costs.

Supporting Information:

“It’s been good really good I like making my own food at my foster carers but now I can make
other things and try other things”

“It’s been nice making food here as I didn’t know how to cook and I feel like I can go back and
make different baby foods for my little one as baby jars are expensive so I hope I can make my
own and freeze it to save on money”

“I like coming to see everyone and make food”

“I enjoy coming to these sessions as a worker as I truly feel like I am cooking with my own children. I can share with them my trips and hacks around the kitchen and cooking, and it builds a legacy for children and young people that they should feel from those who act as their parents. It’s been a pleasure to be on a journey to prepare, cook, and eat a meal with young people and have a different connection space outside of the office and in their home.”

https://www.local.gov.uk/case-studies/london-borough-merton-cooking-friends

Team: Supported Housing Commissioning Team

Partners: Children’s Social Care; Housing; Public Health; Community Safety; Police; Youth Justice Service; Probation; Centrepoint; Depaul UK; Evolve Housing + Support; St Giles Trust; MTVH; Peabody; Settle; Look Ahead; MAC-UK; and Juvenis.

Main Submission:

In 2020 Lambeth Council realised that our housing-related support services for care leavers and homeless young people were no longer meeting their needs. We had two large hostels located in gang hotspots and tragically had a murder in one. We needed to prove the case for change, so we undertook a needs assessment involving complex data analysis, extensive consultations with young people and stakeholders, and visits to services delivering best practice elsewhere.

The needs assessment revealed that we were not preventing young people from needing housing-related support; our young people felt ‘warehoused’ and ‘unsafe’ in the big hostels; we weren’t meeting their mental health needs; and they had no support to move into independent accommodation and were left stuck in supported housing. And the Council was spending huge sums on poor quality and high cost SILs (semi-independent living) placements.

We were given permission to undertake a large-scale transformation programme; to decommission everything and start again. We decanted those large hostels, and designed and commissioned a new joint pathway between Housing and CSC (Children’s Social Care) with a pooled budget to save the excessive spend on SILs and drastically improve outcomes for our young people.

There is a real emphasis on keeping young people in a home environment, or to move into independent accommodation with exactly the right support.

Our innovative services include:

• Emotional Wellbeing Service working across the whole pathway to provide clinical interventions with young people and upskill staff in being trauma-informed and embedding a consistent psychologically-informed approach across the Pathway.
• Housing-related support services for young people including one for those with mental ill health; our unaccompanied asylum seeking young people; female-only; young families and babies; and another for those actively involved in gangs.
• Tenancy support, floating support and the country’s largest housing first service for young people.

We don’t know of any other local authority that has delivered a transformation of this scale and invested so much into their homeless young people.

Other local authorities can learn from our large-scale transformation:

1. For senior leaders to take informed risks and try something different. Local authorities often get stuck in doing the same thing because the alternative involves taking risks. It is important to prove the case with a solid needs assessment with data and consultations.
2. Commissioning hostels means accommodating high numbers of people cheaply. Furthermore, the task of decanting large hostels feels incredibly hard. Our data and consultations revealed poor outcomes were achieved in these hostels, and young people “did not feel safe” and that they had been “dumped and forgotten about.
3. When we reviewed current spend, we saw the shockingly high cost of SILs (to those companies’ profits) often with poor quality. And so, we designed our pathway for all young people, pooling our budgets, and tendering strategically so as to ensure no spend on profits. We have been able to open new services where we never had the funds available before, that are more cost effective and are producing significantly better outcomes.
4. This new Pathway is not owned by Lambeth Council, it’s a true collaboration with key stakeholders who have played an active role in the development and delivery of the Pathway. We have together held a joint vision for what we wanted to achieve in Lambeth and believe we have changed the course of so many young people’s lives and achieved something really special together. We developed our new pathway together through ongoing consultations and partnership working across all key services, from providers to Children’s Social Care; Housing; Public Health; Community Safety; Police; Youth Justice Service; and Probation, with specific work around developing service specifications, Pathway design and evaluating the tenders.
5. The pathway is funded through pooling council budgets that previously were for supported housing and the Children’s Social Care budgets for semi-independent living provision. This is extremely rare as Councils notoriously work in silos and argue over each department’s funding. We undertook a complex financial modelling exercise alongside our accountants to ensure the budget set is adequate and will bring in spend avoidance for the Council.

Involvement of young people has been a constant priority throughout the transformation and into the new Pathway. For the needs assessment, we held extensive consultations through a combination of 1-1s, groups and surveys. An EbE (Experts by Experience) Panel oversaw the work of the transformation, sitting parallel to our Strategic Programme Board on the governance structure with an EbE also sitting in on Strategic Programme Board.

Throughout the course of the transformation, we recruited a number of Young Commissioners who worked with us in:

1. Developing service specification design and outcomes frameworks.
2. Speaking at market engagement events and contributing to contract tender packs.
3. Evaluating and moderating tenders.
4. Graphic design for the new Routes to Independence Pathway logo.
5. Peer Researchers are assisting in the evaluation of the pathway including getting feedback from our young people and care leavers

The main outcomes of our Routes to Independence Pathway include:

1. Mental health – improved ability to manage mental health and satisfaction with their wellbeing; improved engagement with specialist services; reduction in number of suicide attempts and incidents of self-harm; reduction in in-patient hospitalisations.
2. Physical health – improved ability to manage physical health; improved engagement with GP and dentists; reduction in presentations to A&E; reduction in sexually-transmitted diseases; reduction in unplanned pregnancies.
3. Substance misuse – improved levels of harm minimization; improved engagement with specialist services; reduction in smoking and drug use.
4. Relationships and support networks – young people feeling more satisfied with their health relationships; improvements in young people having support networks.
5. Staying safe – reduction in criminal offences committed; reduction in court appearances; reduction in custodial sentences; reduction in domestic abuse incidents; reduction in young people being victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse.
6. Managing a tenancy – reduction in numbers of evictions and abandonments; improved confidence in managing a tenancy; reduction in arrear.

Team: Corporate Parenting Service – Care Experience team

Partners: Former Care Leavers

Main Submission:

The Care Leaver Alumni group was set up for care experienced young adults to keep in touch with the service even after their formal involvement with us has ended. This group is a way to maintain contact and provide support and mentorship for former care experienced young adults and current care experienced young people, in order to form connections and a community. We also use this space to keep the alumni up to date with useful information and news about new offers, services, and opportunities in the Merton community.

We will also invite our Alumni group to our corporate events such as Summer BBQ and New Year celebrations. Currently, we meet bi-monthly in smaller groups to stay in touch, which fosters our ethos and values of Life Long Links and forever family. These gatherings also provide an opportunity to meet with old staff and each other, to seek help or simply catch up on news and enjoy some food!

One of the projects the Alumni have led on this year (2024) was updating our Guide to Leaving Care, which is a guide for young people who are 16 and over. It shares information outlining the rights and entitlements of care-experienced young people and explains how Merton, as a Corporate Parent, can continue to support young people into adulthood.

The Alumni team supported with the terminology used, imagery, and format, the role of the SW and PA, letter from our workers and the support available, complaints service and signpost to services that Merton is in partnership with; Care Leaver Covenant, grandmentors and how to join and access our Alumni service.

Supporting Information:

Alumni feedback:

“It was really hard leaving the service as I was saying goodbye to my PA of 9 years. At the same time, my brother, who was also a care leaver, died. It was so good that although I was alone, I still felt like I had a PA by my side to support me. It can be so lonely when you have lots of people in your life for your whole life and then they leave. But I like coming to the meals and BBQs as I get to talk and also hear about my retired PA and see pictures of him golfing, which I know he loved to do.”

“I liked helping with the guide to leaving care. My life is a little bit busy, so I attend the alumni meetings whenever I can, but I appreciate that they are still available. I enjoy being invited to the events, especially because my sister is also a care leaver. It feels like we are attending a family gathering, which is quite special. The food is always the best part.”

“I hope the alumni stay and grow. You don’t know how much just having a meal six times a year with you guys does for me.”

Team: Corporate Parenting

Partners: Children Looked After and Leaving Care Team, Commissioning Sutton Housing Partnership, Barnardo’s and Transform Housing.

Main Submission:

The London Borough of Sutton launched Kick Start Futures in June 2020 to provide high-quality, in borough accommodation with support for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking young people (UAS) in our care. There had been a sharp increase in the number of UAS young people, who come to the Council in an extremely vulnerable state. The usual avenue of support via semi-independent accommodation, that was located outside of our borough, was not only costly but it also meant that we were not able to provide more tailored services.

With housing in Sutton in high-demand, officers looked at assets that the Council already owned and transformed this into high-quality accommodation. This was achieved with the support of our Assets department and Sutton Housing Partnership (SHP), the Councils ALMO.

Children’s charity Barnardo’s were commissioned to provide ‘Floating Support’, this is delivered as individual 1-2-1 tailored keywork sessions and group work. The level of support a young person receives is determined and agreed by the young person and their social worker/personal advisor. The level of support is flexible and can be increased/reduced in response to the young person’s needs and the outcomes they are working towards.

In addition, SHP manages the council-owned housing stock and further supports this project via a bespoke, enhanced, Housing Management Agreement. A dedicated Housing Manager ensures robust oversight of the properties involved and also provides direct support with the young people around tenancy sustainment. They also contribute to the young person’s Personal Support Plan.

The programme launched in June 2020 with a single, 4 bed property. The model quickly proved successful, with the young people progressing against their Personal Support Plans through consistent, dedicated support and any property issues were addressed rapidly.

The programme also demonstrated significant cost savings to the local authority with an average placement cost of £266 per week, in comparison to the £805 per week average semi-independent placement cost, for this cohort of young people.

The property portfolio has since grown to a total of 31 units, 9 of which are via a housing association, Transform Housing, and 22 via London Borough of Sutton
properties. A further property comprising four units is due to be added to the portfolio in early 2025 following works to bring the units to a high-quality standard and Houses in Multiple Occupation compliance. Capital finance is split between the Housing Revenue Account, and the General Fund, on a clear invest to save basis which also ensures long term commitment to retain these properties for our care leavers.

Our Children’s Services Housing Development Board was set up to provide strategic oversight of the expansion of KickStart Futures, and other in-house accommodation initiatives in Children’s Services. Board membership includes senior management across Children’s Services and several Housing departments and demonstrates strong commitment across the Council to improve services for the children and young people in our care. Joint working with Planning, local Ward Councillors and neighbours has proved invaluable in tackling any challenges presented during the Planning process.

Examples of outcomes for young people accommodated within KickStart:
● 98% of the young people (YP) reported feeling safe.
● 75% of the working YP created their CVs and applied for their current, or prior job, with a Barnardo’s worker during support sessions.
● 100% of the YP are registered with, or are in the process of changing, their GP.
● Young people who are not eligible for education or work are supported with finding activities they can engage with.
● All the young people have up-to-date support plans, risk assessments and outcomes to identify areas of strength and growth.
● 82.35% of the eligible young people are in education/training/employment.
● All the young people are engaged in regular key work sessions to encourage them to express their life goals for the future. Staff then use this to help them
plan the best route to achieve these goals

We have included quotes from some of our young people within the supporting materials for this submission.

Young people have been involved in the development of the programme as it has expanded. We found that young people in employment accommodated within our Supported Accommodation offer were at higher risk of rent arrears, due to the higher rent of this type of provision. Therefore from June 2021 we expanded the criteria of KickStart to include young people in employment, as an affordable housing option. This has better enabled young people who are working to make their rent and personal charge payments which has contributed to their overall readiness to move on to live independently.

We have sought the advice and support of our care experienced young people in the layout of bedrooms when getting new properties ready to launch. Young people who helped to build furniture and design the rooms were given a voucher for their time, and a letter of thanks which could be used when seeking employment.

During the course of this programme it was recognised that for many young people there was a duplication of roles and responsibilities between Key Workers
(Barnardo’s) and Personal Advisers (LB Sutton, statutory function). Therefore, in November 2024 a proposal to pilot an in-house model which combines the role of
Personal Adviser and Key Worker was approved. By reducing the number of professionals working with a young person, it is anticipated that this will allow for more intensive, responsive and meaningful interventions in support of young people’s transition to an independent adulthood. It is intended for an ‘Independence
Programme’ to be developed in draft ahead of the pilot, and refined in collaboration with the young people accommodated. This programme can be rolled out to all of our young people beyond the KickStart offer. It is also anticipated that this pilot will gain valuable insight into the operation of floating support services, which could inform wider commissioning initiatives, including services such as the Young People’s Accommodation and Support Service, and Semi-independent accommodation.

In summary, we are incredibly proud of our KickStart Futures programme including its continual development in response to the changing needs of our young people and wider societal challenges such as housing and the cost of living. We strongly believe that it is an excellent example of innovation within children’s social care, utilising council assets to provide a high-quality service which meets the needs of our young people at a cost saving for the authority. The project demonstrates LB Sutton’s commitment to and passion for change to improve the living standards and outcomes for some of our most vulnerable young people.

Supporting Information:

Team: Leaving Care

Main Submission:

Introduction
The Care Leaver Covenant Project in Redbridge reflects an ambitious commitment to enhancing the lives of care-experienced young people aged 16-25. Recognising the challenges faced by care leavers, the initiative was designed to adopt a “whole-council approach” to Corporate Parenting, propelled by the Chief Executive and Cabinet Member for Children and Young People.

Redbridge worked with the national Care Leaver Covenant movement to tackle systemic issues by integrating care leaver priorities into council processes. Our multi-disciplinary team co-produced engagement events with our Don’t Whisper Senior Children in Care Council: the first with council officers in April 2023, the second with councillors, private sector, multi-agency and voluntary partners in May 2024. The project’s aim was to improve access to:

• Education, Employment, and Training
• Stable housing and independent living skills
• Health and well-being
• Financial stability

Despite challenges including stakeholder turnover, limited budgets, and external pressures (e.g., cost-of-living impacts on smaller businesses), Redbridge has embedded the Care Leaver Covenant as a council- and community-wide corporate parenting initiative with transferable best practices.

Actions, Activities, and Best Practice
The project delivered targeted actions in response to Don’t Whisper participants’ proposed action plan to council officers:

Key Initiatives and Delivery

• To improve education and employment opportunities, a dedicated council work experience programme was formalised, including for unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people; a bespoke Care Leaver Internship Policy was developed, embedding paid pathways tailored for care leavers’ goals; and an in-council mentoring service pilot paired officers with care leavers to guide them into higher education.
• Support for driving lessons was incorporated into the Enhanced Local Offer.
• A Care Leavers’ Hub was co-designed with over 50 care-experienced young people to provide a safe, accessible space, aiming to minimise loneliness and improve their sense of belonging to the community. A former creche at our local Adult Education Institute has been converted into a Hub with a hangout space, computer area and a kitchenette. Refurbishment is underway, supported by donations from social value partners and local businesses, with a formal launch planned. Key workstreams are led by two care-experienced apprentices.
• Single Points of Contact for Care Leavers were identified in Housing, with streamlined care leaver participation through mainstream housing engagement channels increasing support. Devices and data were secured through partnerships (donations via Redbridge IT and the Good Things Foundation), enhancing digital inclusion.

Impact Evidence
The Care Leaver Covenant has achieved measurable outcomes, demonstrating improvements in care leaver support:

• The Care Leaver Internship Policy created sustainable employment pathways for two care leavers in Public Health and Democratic Services.
• Two Care Leaver Engagement & Events Apprentices were recruited, driving co-production in Leaving Care.
• Through our Corporate Parenting Mentoring Pilot, two care-experienced Year 12 students received bespoke coaching through the Russell Group and Ivy League application process, from personal statements through to entrance tests and interviews, from a council officer with a background in Oxbridge coaching. These young people are now studying at Imperial College London and Harvard University respectively, the latter receiving a $400,000 scholarship.
• A Housing Specialist Worker in Leaving Care and SPOCs in housing have enhanced care
  leavers’ access to appropriate support and benefits.
• The development of the Care Leaver Hub has provided a tangible, long-term solution for stability and engagement. The space will be used as a ‘home away from home’.

Supporting Information:

Team: Kingston & Richmond Leaving Care/UASC Team

Main Submission:

Since October 2019, the Team created Prison Packs consisting of clothes, bedding, trainers and books. This started following a visit a prison and consulting with a care leaver about what the Team could do differently to better support them in prison. The Participation Officer and a care leaver presented this at the Pan London Participation Network Meeting in March 2021 and now other councils are developing their own Packs. We have received positive feedback from care leavers and their families. The packs have saved young people money and the impact has been that they can spend more of their clothing allowance and purchase other items in prison. We have sent out 16 packs to date. The prison packs serve as a reminder to professionals that young people in prison are still young people and to remind ourselves to humanise them.

Since February 2021, the Team Suitcase Project has ensured all children in care have their own suitcases. Suitcases are donated by local residents and we created funding from the 2021 Winter Allowance to also purchase new suitcases. We are ensuring that regardless of team or age, no child in our care will move with black bin liners, to maintain their dignity, which is a basic need. Each child/young person will receive at least 2 suitcases, or more if needed. To date we have distributed over 300 suitcases.

-From May 2022, the Team implemented Baby Packs for care leavers who are new parents, which the Participation Officer has taken forward with CiCC. The Packs include quilts from the Linus Project, toiletries, clothes and a book on parenthood. The Pack aims to reduce the financial and practical pressures of first time parents and equip them with the essentials and equipment needed. One challenge was the cost but we were able to quickly overcome by partnering with a baby basics which is a community volunteer-led project in our local area supporting new parents and families. Baby basics volunteers lovingly collect, sort and package a moses basket containing all the items. Over the last two and half years 37 packs have been giving our young parents a positive start to parenthood and for us to celebrate the birth of their baby. Some of the young people may not receive any other welcoming gifts for them or their child and they appreciate and value the contents of the baskets – this was a testimony from a young UASC mother who had no family in the UK.

The Leaving Care Team has received funding from the DfE over two years from December 2023 to offer mentoring to UASC or former UASC aged 16-25. The mentoring is being delivered by an established charity called Hope for the Young. The weekly sessions can focus on attending activities, education and befriending and the young person can access funding of up to £200 each. The criteria is new UASC to help them get to know London and their local area ; UASC who have pending asylum claims and are de-motivated, NEET and need mental health support ; UASC who are appeal rights exhausted – to reduce the risk of them going underground or even leaving the country illegally ; UASC who have just received their status – to explore new opportunities for them ; UASC that have had a placement breakdown. Feedback from young people has included loving the project, gaining really valuable skills, increasing confidence on London transport, learning to use Microsoft software, and even receiving a bike through their grant ; completing the E-visa together as the young person was struggling and updating their CV. As a whole, the mentors have filled in gaps in support for UASC, helping bridge their links to the local community and increasing their belonging in the UK. To date 10 UASC have completed the mentoring scheme

Team: Sport & Leisure and the Children Families and Lifelong Learning

Partners: GLL Better Leisure

Main Submission:

Merton has an ambition to become a Borough of Sport and ensure all residents can benefit from an active lifestyle. Merton seeks to provide young care leavers with opportunities to engage in sport and physical activity. Being physically active has a huge positive impact on health and social outcomes, it has been identified that access to fitness is a key factor in fostering overall well-being.

The Merton care leaver offer states “If the need is identified in your Pathway Plan, the Care Experienced Service can reimburse you for up to £10 per week towards a gym/leisure centre membership or up to £500 per year for a wellbeing activity or holiday.”

Whilst support to access leisure exists, Merton would like to understand the young people’s barriers and drivers. The council’s Bright Spots survey asked our care experienced young people what they enjoyed doing in their free time, only 21% exploring outdoors, 36% exercising/sports. Therefore, we can assume Merton care experienced young people are not meeting the Sport England physical activity guidelines and are disproportionately affected.

The Merton Care Leavers Forum and the Merton Children In Care Council, have highlighted that physical and mental wellbeing ranks as the most important measure to Merton care experienced young people.

To develop the leisure offer we are working with GLL (Merton’s contracted leisure provider), to deliver a research project with a group of care leavers that will shape offers moving forward.

Background
GLL have funding to award 20 care leavers with a free six-month membership across all Merton leisure centres. This will enable a small group of care leavers to gain free access to swimming sessions, the gym and exercise classes.

The Sport & Leisure Team and the Children, Lifelong Learning & Families Team are working with GLL to follow and document the young people’s journey.

Approach
We will advertise this opportunity to young people through our established engagement channels; through our Care Leaver Forum, through our Social Workers and Personal Advisors and directly with fostering families. Once young people are engaged, they can keep in touch through the Care Leaver Forum as this takes place every two weeks.

Merton codesigned a survey with a care experienced young person. All participants will complete the survey, to unlock the free membership.

At the midpoint Merton will deliver a focus group with the young people alongside GLL. The young will be incentivised to participate and provided with guidance from GLL regarding working in the leisure sector and available opportunities. The focus group will deepen Merton’s understanding of how the young people are using the membership and what changes need to be made to increase participation.

The focus group will also address other areas leisure outside. For example, exercising in other settings (libraries, parks, private gym), equipment barriers, confidence, local sporting event attendance etc.

After the six-month membership Merton will celebrate the young people and request that they complete a similar survey to the one at the start so comparisons and progress can be measured.

GLL will track the usage of the passes to gain insights into the types of activities being accessed, popular times, and the frequency of attendance.

Merton will collate, document and share the information in a report as it will help to shape offers for our care experienced young people.

Voice of Young Care Leavers
“I don’t attend the gym, because of money. If I did go I would like to go because swimming and rowing.”

“Providing me with free leisure access would have many benefits for my well-being, especially considering my experiences and the challenges I face”

“Overall, having free leisure access would greatly enhance my well-being, help me develop positive coping mechanisms and support my ongoing recovery, making it easier for me to live a full and meaningful life.”

Team: Children’s Rights and Participation Team,

In Southwark, one of London’s most vibrant and diverse areas, there is a special project called SpeakerBox. SpeakerBox is Southwark’s Children in Care Council (CICC) and gives young care experienced people the chance to speak up, share their stories, and make a real difference. This project is all about helping young people feel heard and valued in their community. SpeakerBox is run by young people, for young people aged 5 to 25 in Southwark. It’s a place where they can develop new skills, get creative, and talk about things that really matter to them. Whether it’s making podcasts, videos, or blogs, SpeakerBox gives young people a chance to share their opinions and have their voices listened to. It’s all about helping them get involved in their community and show others what they care about.

Partners: Speakerbox, the Family Council, Parent Advocates and Staff Members

Main Submission:

Speakerbox began 21 years ago and has continued to evolve over time. There are now 2 children’s rights and participation officers (CROs), Dechaun Malcolm – who works primarily with the 13 – 25 age group and Ekta Gupta who works with the under 13s and young people with special educational needs. In 2023/24 there were 1005 episodes where young people engaged in SpeakerBox.

We initially built SpeakerBox membership through activity based events and consultations with young people but what was missing was young people’s voices consistently being heard by senior managers and meaningful change to practice and services occurring as a result. When changes were made they weren’t always communicated back to young people so they weren’t always clear how their voices were heard and acted upon. Having two CROs has enabled space to recalibrate how we work together with young people, we have a stable membership of around 35 young people and we have made the decision to reduce the amount of activities we offer and focus on SpeakerBox being an intentional space with a strategic focus and strong links to senior managers across Southwark Council and not just within Children’s Service. The messaging is that ‘Corporate Parenting’ is the responsibility of everyone who works for Southwark Council.

Young people have voted to move away from having one chair and they have organised themselves into groups based on different themes and interests with each one having nominated representative. One challenge we have faced is how we use young people’s voices without re-traumatising them. We were initially involving young people in a variety of in-person training sessions but we were concerned that they were having to re-live their often very traumatic experiences through re-telling their stories. So we have now moved towards using other methods such as films, podcasts, music, newsletters and artwork.

We enhanced the engagement with senior leaders across Southwark through having a group of young people attend the Director’s Forum and present their top priorities as young people in care and care leavers. This helped departments to think about what they could offer as a Corporate Parent and young people felt seen and heard. We have now had offers from many Directors including Housing, Environment and Leisure and our call centre to work in partnership. As a result young people have been offered ring-fenced employment opportunities and free leisure activities and opportunities.

Innovation Project Ekta and Jacqui founded the Innovation Project which is a grass roots approach to changing the way we practice and how senior managers make decisions about services for young people. It is a collaboration of care experienced young people, parents with experiences of children’s services, social workers, team managers and independent reviewing officers. The group votes on which ideas to take forward and involves other areas to help create change. One of the projects young people voted as most important was around equity across teams and services when it comes to finances and understanding financial rights and entitlements. The finance service have been meeting with young people to explain their entitlements and are co-designing an information sheet with young people, parents and social workers. Young people have taken the lead with pitching for innovation money funds for specific projects and are awaiting an outcome. The innovation project report in regularly to senior managers to ensure that there is buy in to the project and learning from it.

Shaping Services: Young people have been involved from the very beginning of Southwark setting up their own Children’s Homes. They were involved in building and garden design, furnishing, naming the home, designing artwork, the documentation for Ofsted registration and creating the young person’s guide. They also sat on the recruitment panel for the residential manager and all of the staff.

Funding has been provided to furnish and decorate a section one of our buildings so young people have a space they can call their own and it is part of our new CareLeavers Hub. Young people were consulted about how the space should look and a cartoonish captured their vision for the hub in a beautiful piece of art which has been framed and displayed. Young people are regularly given paid opportunities to be part of consultation groups both within and external to Southwark. Some recent opportunities include meeting with the CLA nurses to design materials to promote health assessments and how they can encourage greater attendance and dispel myths and fears; meeting with sexual health services to think about how to design the Careleavers Hub, meeting with another borough to give feedback on setting up services for UASC.

Cooking Group for young people with Special Educational Needs
Ekta has been running a cooking group for 14-25 year old care experienced young people who have an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) or are in the process of being assessed for one. We collaborate with Bread Ahead Bakery and support 10 young people every fortnight during term time to engage in a 2 hour cooking session. Young people have made pizza, brioche, focaccia and various other delicious things. The session helps young people to develop new skills, become more independent, to follow along with instructions and to meet other young people in a relaxed setting. It is absolutely joyful watching their faces as
they marvel at what they have created! The feedback has been incredibly positive and we always have a waiting list for each session. Young people who have attended the cooking group have grown in confidence and gone on to present at corporate parenting committee.

There was a SEND consultation and young people undertook a workshop regarding ECHPS – see feedback in the last section. Young people and practitioners benefited greatly from this. This has also led to our care leavers going into schools to facilitate conversations with students and film this. We have some incredible talented young people who are aspiring photographers and film makers and instead of hiring professionals in to capture events we have been employing our care leavers.

Young people write a staff newsletter to update the social work services about what SpeakerBox have been up to. Within this there is a section in tips for social workers and advice from young people about what has worked well and not so well for them. They also share poetry and lyrics. There is an “Ask A” column where social workers can write to a care leaver for advice on a matter.

Learningfest
We have a quarterly event which has a different theme each time. Young people have led sessions around writing for and about children and young people and been involved in co-facilitating training around care planning and permanence. Foster carer recruitment and training – Young people directly and films they make are involved in foster carer recruitment and training.

Creative Collective
We’ve run a fortnightly session with a singer/songwriter called creative collective where young people come together to sing and create music. It’s been a great way for young people to get to know each other and learn a new skill

Podcasting: We have collaborated with Camden Roundhouse and young people have learnt all about Podcasting. Southwark Council have pledged to fund the podcasting equipment and young people are looking forward to sharing their views.

Fundraising: Young people are raising money, ideally for a trip to Disneyland Paris. They have attended screen printing workshops and have designed and printed their own t-shirts, we have been selling them via a donation to make money and young people have raised close to £2500.supports.

Celebrating:
SpeakerBox love celebrating and coming together! The care and permanence service has made this possible through funding events such as our Summer Cook Out, Yearly Big Celebration and our Winter Ball. We finished off the year with a chef gifting her time to come and cook and incredible meal for SpeakerBox members. This really helped them feel valued and part of a community at a time of year which is often quite tricky.

Residential
We took a group of young people away on our first residential in many years in Summer 2024. The theme of the residential was around conflict management and over the space of 4 days young people engaged in sessions around how they experienced conflict and how they could effectively navigate it. A very talented aspiring film maker who is one of our care leaver has made a film of their experiences across the week.

Supporting Information:

SEN consultation feedback from young people:
“At the beginning of the consultation, I felt intimidated by all the adults there because I have social anxiety and I am shy. As I got to know them I opened up more and I found it inspirational. The lady that spoke to me was very funny and made me feel comfortable sharing my experiences. She never judged me. The department listened and took what we said into consideration. I could see them trying their best to help us in every way they can”

“After the session, I felt I got a lot off my shoulder and felt that the department would use my opinions to help us in the future”.

I think other departments should do this to help young people in care. I think if young people and departments work together young people will get the help they need and feel more comfortable sharing their view and vision of the care system. I appreciate the time and effort the SEND department put into coming to see all the young people including myself”.

Quotes from YP – “Speakerbox for me brings me to be a part of something bigger to make a difference, but to also have fun, experience and experiment” – (YP 21). “SpeakerBox has made a great impact on my life and shaped a lot of how I think about things nowadays. SpeakerBox really has an amazing community which continues to grow throughout all of the activities which I take part in and really appreciate. I love coming to SpeakerBox and having a great community around me” – (YP 16)

Home:

Young people in SpeakerBox voted to focus on the theme ‘Home’ this year. Their intention was to help social work staff, managers and foster carers understand how they could best support and care for young people. We engaged the 5-12 year old group in a collaboration with The Roundhouse with a DJ and music producer. Young people wrote lyrics and recorded a track about Home. We had a second group of 13+ young people who also did the same. It was a powerful representation of their views. The 13+ age group also made a film with ‘The Mouth that Roars’ to highlight how foster carers can think differently about young people and help young people feel like they are ‘home’ by being included within the foster family and ways carers can hold them in mind. The film will be used as a training resource for foster carers and social workers. Later in the year young people will be recording an album together with the same DJ and producer.

We engaged the younger cohort with the theme of ‘We Run the World’ to get their views on how they want to be cared for and what they would want to be different in life. We worked alongside a cartoonist who created a comic strip with our children and their super powers. We printed the comic strip and they absolutely loved seeing themselves in what looked like something you’d buy in a comic book shop. Some of their comments about what they wanted to be different in the world/their life were “I would want to get rid of false hope and despair (YP aged 8), “I would want to get rid of lying” (YP aged 9), “I would want to get rid of fighting” (YP aged 6). We hope that by engaging the younger cohort in these activities we will hear their voices and also encourage them to be an active part of SpeakerBox in the future.

Team: Corporate Parenting Service – Merton’s Fostering Entertainments Committee, Participation Team, Merton Foster Carers Association (MFCA) & Young Inspectors

Main Submission:

As a Corporate Parent and local authority, our dedication to celebrating events, holidays, and important milestones for the children in our care and care-experienced young people has always been a top priority.

This year, we made sure that our Corporate parenting events calendar included contributions from the service, as well as from the children and young people themselves.

Throughout the year, we joyfully celebrated occasions such as Lunar New Year, Eid, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Kinship Carer Week, our Annual Summer BBQ for children in care and care leavers, Diwali, Pumpkin Carving, Care Leaver Week, Christmas card from the counsellors and Christmas evets.

Our Celebration calendar is designed to help children and young people connect with one another, recognise their worth, and explore their faith. We encourage practices that reflect our commitment to corporate parenting principles in; encouraging children and young people to express their views, wishes, and feelings, put this into action and come together to celebrate. Together, have been able to take action and celebrate these moments.

One of the standout moments from this celebration year was the feedback we received from young people about the Eid Event and our parents in celebrating our corporate grandchildren.

Supporting Information:

Eid feedback:
“I loved the food at the Eid event; it was so nice. My social worker always wishes me a happy Eid and makes sure she sees me later on in the day when I am fasting. But it was nice after Eid to eat and have food with her.”

Mother Day feedback:
“It’s so nice that you remembered me on Mother’s Day. I got my card before Sunday. Since my son is little, no one really thinks to get me a card from him. But it was nice for someone else to think of it and do it. It was such a Surprise.”

Summer BBQ feedback:
“Best time of year, I love the BBQ. I like the games; the prizes are always ten- ten. I can’t believe the staff actually won the tug of war this year, it’s crazy. The food is much nicer this year because the foster carers were BBQ’ing. I will be there next year.”

Christmas card feedback:
“This was the only card I got for Christmas, and it meant everything to me. I live in Scotland, so am not close to Merton, but to know that they are thinking of me means the world to me. And to get it to me before Christmas meant a lot.

Pumpkin carving:
“The kids loved it. It is so nice to get messy with their social workers and IROs and just have fun. I like it when we have these spaces so social workers, managers, and professionals get to see another side of the children they don’t usually see in their day-to-day visits, PEPs, or child in care reviews.”