Celebrating National Care Leavers Week 2021

This week we’re celebrating National Care Leaver’s Week and those from the Smart Works family that belong to this community from clients to staff members. A care leaver is an adult who has spent time living in the care system, away from their family. This could be with a foster family, a children’s home or supported housing service.

Many of our clients come from care-experienced backgrounds and we work with a network of referrers who specifically support people from this community. Supporting care leavers to independence is key with only 12% of care leavers going to university and 22% of female care leavers becoming teenage parents.

With the theme for this year’s National Care Leaver’s Week being ‘Empathise and Empower’ we asked our Civil Service Secondee, Kim, a care leaver herself, on why care leavers need to be supported by organisations like Smart Works.

“Coming from a Care Leaver background, the hardship I have faced in trying to lead an independent life has resulted in me overcoming a significant amount of adversity and barriers compared to those from a non-care leavers background. These experiences have highlighted the importance and the need for organisations such as Smart Works and many others to continue to support Care Leavers as I am a strong believer that everyone needs a helping hand in life. These organisations contribute to providing a fairer society and equal opportunity for Care Leavers along with having the belief in encouraging Care Leavers to reach their full potential.”

At Smart Works we’re committed to making sure all our clients reach their full potential and we work with over 30 referral partners such as Become, Care Leavers Covenant, Catch 22 and Drive Forward Foundation who support those from care-experienced backgrounds through our service. If you or someone you know is from a care-experienced background and working with a charity or organisation who can refer to our services, please do encourage them to call 020 7288 1770 or email london@smartworks.org.uk.