You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Biography to follow
Helping young people in care achieve their potential is vital
An early life in care should not hold back a young person’s ambition. Here, Charlie Norman explains the steps being taken in Greater Manchester
A brilliant new book has been published by one of the people I totally admire and knew briefly as a teenager – the poet Lemn Sissay MBE.
Lemn makes a huge contribution as a civic leader and inspirational artist in Greater Manchester. My Name Is Why is a frank and powerful memoir about his life growing up in care in the 1970s and 1980s.
He recently spoke on BBC Radio 4 about being 14 and tattooing the initials of what he thought was his name onto his hand. The tattoo is still there, but it wasn’t his name.
In my personal and professional life, I have experienced the vagaries of the care system, the cracks people can fall through and the impact it can have on young lives.
Whatever has happened, we need to celebrate these young people and their many achievements, focus on the positive, remove barriers and aim as high as we dare on ambition.
READ MORE
At Mosscare St Vincent’s (MSV), our philosophy over decades of working with young people in our Foyers and young person’s schemes is that some people have a rocky start in life, but that should not, in any way, mean they are stuck there in perpetuity.
We have seen so many of them go on to do amazing things because they are bright, talented and ambitious for the future.
Other than the fact that around 10,000 young people leave care each year in the UK, in this piece, I have resisted quoting the often negative statistics about what can happen when they do. Instead, we need to be positive, have conversations with them about what they need, shake off the labels and just pull together to ensure there is no limit to opportunity.
In Greater Manchester, like so many places up and down the country, we are working on a care leaver covenant and guarantee, leveraging our fantastic, collegiate partnership working.
Just in case you are not familiar with the Care Leaver Covenant, it is a promise launched last autumn, made by private, public and voluntary sectors, to provide support for care leavers aged 16-25 to help them to live independently.
There are five focused outcomes for young people leaving care:
- Being better prepared and supported to live independently
- Improved access to employment, education and training
- Experience of stability in their lives and feeling safe and secure
- Improved access to health and emotional support
- Achieving financial stability
Housing providers, the private, public and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sectors are coalescing around the vision that every person leaving care should have a great future. Access to a decent and affordable home is critical in building a solid foundation for their transition to independence and creating a life of stability and fulfilment.
Greater Manchester’s housing providers are discussing a guaranteed housing offer with support, along with mentoring schemes, access to apprenticeships, education and training (through us and our supply chains) and a wider support network in the community.
"Access to a decent and affordable home is critical in building a solid foundation for their transition to independence and creating a life of stability and fulfilment"
Great things are also happening with free transport, easier access to services and other barriers being removed.
At MSV, as well as our Foyer and Care Leaver schemes, we are looking to develop an innovative new co-creation model through Manchester City Council and The National House Project.
We are seeing brilliant examples from partner housing providers and other firms such as local solicitors, making a real difference in their offer around advocacy and legal support.
It would be great to see the whole sector getting onboard with this to maximise our impact for these young people, who deserve the best life can offer.
“As the future dawns on you
You’ll get brighter by the day
So let your light shine through
And let it light the way”
Lemn Sissay
Charlie Norman, chief executive, Mosscare St Vincent’s
