Council celebrates National Care Leavers Week with host of events
Shropshire Council is celebrating care leavers this week as a part of National Care Leavers Week 2023, which is up to Wednesday 1 November 2023.
National Care Leavers Week
To mark the week, council is hosting a series of events for care leavers throughout the week and also highlighting its Local Offer to care leavers. The Local Offer provides information of what services and support Shropshire Council provides, and has been written with the aim of describing exactly what care leavers can expect from the council.
Shropshire Council’s leaving care team are hosting a series of celebratory, informative and motivational events that recognise the challenges care leavers face and equip them with the knowledge and confidence they’ll need to help with their career pathway. During the week, activities include drop-in advisory sessions with the Children in Care Council and careers advice, as well as bake-along, bowling, quizzes, sporting taster sessions.
As a corporate parent, Shropshire Council has a responsibility and a duty of care to ensure that all young people leaving care are supported in living independently. The council helps care leavers in many ways including finding suitable accommodation, continuing their education, managing their finances, keeping healthy, and establishing good relationships.
As corporate parents, the council have made a pledge to care leavers to:-
- Keeping you safe: we will keep you safe and ensure that you are living in an environment where you feel valued, are supported and protected from harm.
- Where you live: we will make sure you live in a stable home where you are happy, feel safe and are supported to become part of the community.
- Your friends and family: we will make sure that you are able to keep in touch with those who are important to you, while creating opportunities and experiences where you can have fun, meet new people and gain skills.
- Your health, wellbeing and lifestyle: we will make sure you are supported to live a happy and healthy life. If you ever feel that you need to talk to someone about how you feel, we will make sure you know what support is available and help you to access it.
- Your voice: we will support you to express your views, wishes and feelings and involve you in decisions that affect your life. We want to know what we can do better and will give you opportunities to help shape the support we offer.
- Your education, work and learning: we will support you with your education and learning, to ensure that you have the opportunities to fulfil your potential. We will help you to gain the skills, qualifications and experience you need to start a career you are passionate about.
- Your future: we will support and prepare you for independence and ensure that you are equipped with the skills and confidence to live independently as part of the community. We will continue to support you into adulthood to ensure that you are happy, healthy and safe.
Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Council’s Chair of the Corporate Parenting Steering Board, and Cabinet member for children and education, said:-
“I am delighted that we are supporting National Care Leavers Week.
“As a council we are a Corporate Parent to over 717 children and 244 care leavers, many of whom who have had challenging or traumatic start to their lives.
“Despite such experiences, with the support of our children’s services we continue to see how many of our young people overcome such trauma and become well-rounded, confident and independent people, who become active citizens in their own communities.
“Like any parent we have big aspirations for our children and young people and are immensely proud of their incredible achievements.”
For more information about National Care Leavers Week visit National Care Leavers’ Week – Become (becomecharity.org.uk)
