Care Leavers & People in Care
Groundwork’s Care to Work programme builds pathways into employment for care experienced young people aged 16-25 who are currently not in education, employment or training and have struggled to engage or stick with the existing education, training or employment support services that are available to them.
Our Care Leaver Specialists
Our specialist Care Leavers’ Employment team primarily work with young people on a 1-2-1 basis; in person and with phone, texts and video calls to maintain engagement in between sessions.
Liane Kirk
Vanessa Mullings
Deborah Priestly
Our team hold qualifications in Education and Training, Counselling and Information, Advice and Guidance, and are all trained in trauma informed practice. They have years of experience supporting young people with a range of personal challenges, which they first seek to manage before exploring pathways into employment.
Shannon & Michael, Support Staff, Intact Projects LtdWe really value and appreciate the fantastic work you are doing with our young people; your positive energy really radiates with the young people, and they respond so well to your teaching.
Support Services Provided to Care Leavers
We pride ourself on always taking a person-centred approach, outlining a bespoke, personal pathway for every young person we meet. Our team focuses on building pathways into employment, training and apprenticeships alongside providing pastoral support. We are familiar supporting care leavers with:
- Anxiety, low levels of self confidence and self esteem
- Lack of resilience – tendency to give up on learning / new job when something goes wrong
- Lack of relevant skills and qualifications
- Chaotic lifestyle
- Poor financial management
- Poor diet, health and mental wellbeing
- Lack of understanding of employer expectations
- Little or no work experience
- Lack of basic employability skills
- Limited awareness of services available to them
When young people are ready, they’re invited to attend short training courses with Groundwork to achieve vocational qualifications such as Health & Safety, Customer Service, Carbon Literacy and work towards gaining their CSCS Green Card.
To help beyond training, our team have developed a large network of supportive employment partners, who understand the challenges faced by people in care and are accommodating to additional in-work support. We coordinate relevant employment site visits, insight sessions, interviews and work placements.
Corinne Rainey, Post-16 Worker, Stockport CouncilDeb provides a fantastic service to our young people. She has built-up some fantastic relationships with our young people and the flexibility of the offer and its delivery is essential for the cohort she is working with.
Examples of our work with Care Leavers
Rosie had struggled with her education after leaving a bad home life. She says working with her Employment Coach at Groundwork has helped to improve her mental health.
Theo has aspirations to work in the construction sector but his mental health challenges are holding him back. Read about how we’re supporting him towards his goals.
Declan was experiencing challenges at college with his neurodiversity and with bullying. Our Employment Coach helped mentor him through these challenges so he could achieve his grades.
Groundwork GM – Work with us
Please complete this form is you’re an organisation looking to work, or partner, with Groundwork Greater Manchester:
Francine Purcell, Stockport CouncilGroundwork provide a bespoke, trauma informed, learning offer to Cared for Children and Care Leavers in Stockport . Their innovative approach, using a flexible model, which is carefully designed to meet the needs of our young people, gives the students a truly unique opportunity to learn and achieve in a way that works for them. Deborah is outstanding at building relationships with our young people, and encouraging them to engage, learn, and achieve. The Groundwork model is truly exceptional in its design and delivery, and our young people, many of whom face multiple barriers to learning , benefit enormously from being able to access a provision that meets them where they are. Working with Groundwork helps our young people build confidence and motivation, whilst gaining vocational qualifications, all of which really helps to enhance their employment prospects. I sincerely hope our partnership continues for many years to come.
Why Groundwork supports young people in care
It’s evidenced that care leavers often have much poorer educational and employment outcomes than their peers. Childhood trauma, attachment issues, the subsequent poor mental health, and high prevalence of special educational needs (SEN), that can be a result of these experiences, are some of the factors contributing to these poor outcomes. However, negative experiences of school and lack of meaningful employment experience, make care leavers at a higher risk of homelessness, teenage pregnancy, to have problems with alcohol and substance mis-use, as well as being 5 times more likely to have a criminal record.
Groundwork supports people who are marginalised or at risk, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to improve their life chances, regardless of their background.