Beyond the system: designing support with care-experienced young people

UKCF and CCLA have brought together local authority bodies, organisations and individuals from across the care leavers landscape for a learning-focused conference dedicated to care leavers.

In partnership with the Local Authorities Mutual Investment Trust (LAMIT, via CCLA) and the Henry Smith Foundation, the £7 million national Care Leavers Programme is being managed across 31 community foundations, working alongside local authorities and the voluntary sector over five years to strengthen local partnerships and improve outcomes for care-experienced young people.

Hosted at CCLA Investment Management in London, the conference focused on cross-sector collaboration, systems change and elevating care leaver voice.

Emma de Closset, Chief Executive at UK Community Foundations, welcomed the Minister for Children and Families, Josh MacAlister MP, to talk about the Government’s Reform Programme, Children’s Wellbeing Bill and other initiatives.

Aaliyah Fozol, a care-experienced advocate and Trustee at Settle, responded with a powerful case for ensuring people with lived experience are involved in systems change:

“When we look at that transition care leavers have to adulthood, I reflect on three key themes which are housing, financial stability and loving relationships. Those are the things that young people should have… So many care leavers I know can’t reach that support, so how can we bridge that gap?”

Three thoughtful panel discussions dominated the afternoon:

Bridging the gaps

The first panel included Virinder Crawford, Head of Service Adolescents, Edge of Care and Complex Safeguarding, Children’s Social Care at Liverpool Council; Gary Frazer, Head of Quality and Impact at Cumbria Youth Alliance; and James Proctor, Programmes Director at Community Foundations for Lancashire and Merseyside; and Cllr Richard Kemp CBE, Chair of LAMIT.

Delegates heard from Virinder Crawford about the impact of the ‘It’s Our City Too’ conference in Liverpool, aimed at strengthening connections across sectors and creating networks of support for care leavers.

Gary Frazer talked about using personal journey tools like Cumbria Youth Alliance’s ME Tool to improve tailored support for young people and care leavers. 

The panel emphasised the importance of local stakeholder engagement, and listening to young people's voices to drive policy change and create practical opportunities.

“Being driven by the voices of young people, it’s so important that we listen to them, take their views on board and give them some ownership over their own progress.”

Gary Frazer, Cumbria Youth Alliance

Embedding youth voice

The second panel featured Bridie Sullivan, Chief Executive at Herefordshire Community Foundation; Dan Jones, Chief Executive at Settle; Lawrence Lloyd, Lead Youth Support Worker at Carefree Cornwall and a care-experienced advocate; Clare Bracey, Director of Policy, Communications & Campaigns at Become; Fatima Whitbread MBE, former World Champion, care-experienced advocate and founder of Fatima’s UK Campaign; and Aaliyah Fozol.

Both the UKCF team and delegates were delighted to be joined by Fatima Whitbread MBE, who spoke of her own experience of the care system and the work she is doing to build support across the UK for children and young people who are care experienced.

Conversation turned to embedding youth voice and collaborating across local systems. Lawrence, Carefree Cornwall, recommended ways that local authorities and organisations could better collaborate with care-experienced young people:

“For me, when youth voice is done well, young people aren't just being asked for their opinions, they're shaping decisions and seeing the impact of their involvement.”

“I first-hand witnessed that being a Trustee at Carefree Cornwall for the best part of two years. That gave me the equipment and skill set to thrive in the national world and do national participation, such as working alongside Aaliyah with the National Care Bureau on the Social Care Advisory Board, giving our views and really putting lived experience at the heart of decision making.”

Driving systems change

The third panel involved Virinder Crawford; Dr Rebecca Bowden, Chief Executive at Community Foundation for Surrey; Randy, a care-experienced young person supported by Big Leaf Foundation; Kayte Cable, co-founder and Programmes Manager at Big Leaf Foundation; and Lily Meisner, Consultant at New Philanthropy Capital (NPC).

Lily Meisner, NPC, highlighted the flexibility of the Care Leavers Programme, recommending funders to think more creatively about what they can support:

“Funding things like coordination, infrastructure, data flows, knowledge sharing, knowledge building and capacity building, are so important to really strengthen the systems – financing the connective tissue that makes all of these things work, not just the individual programmes themselves.”

Continuous learning is a key aspect of the Care Leavers Programme, and UKCF will share further learning and recommendations from the conference soon.  Emma de Closset, Chief Executive at UK Community Foundations, said:

“When deep local knowledge is connected nationally, patterns emerge. Across our network, that has helped us surface shared challenges – from access to resources to gaps in support for care-experienced people – and create new opportunities for civil society and the state to work together.

“We are very grateful to our partners, LAMIT and CCLA, for hosting ‘Beyond the system’, and for the support of the Minister for Children and Families. Most of all, I want to thank our attendees with lived experience for helping us to model the principles of care leaver voice and leadership.”

Andrew Robinson MBE, Director of Market Development at CCLA, commented:

"Our vision was to be a catalyst, bringing together local authorities and public sector organisations, charitable and church organisations along with the private sector to better the lives of young people leaving care; doing so in a way that puts these young people at the heart of the decision making that directly affects their lives. Hopefully for the good.

"It was a privilege to hear from them at the event, and we are so grateful for their involvement in helping shape this programme’s ongoing development.

“There is so much more to do, and we continue to call for local government, civil society and philanthropists to join the programme and think creatively about ways to build a brighter future for these young people."

UKCF would like to thank all attendees and speakers for your engagement, your insights and your enthusiasm for this shared learning event.

Learn more about the Care Leavers Programme