Our NCT leaving team held an event at the University of Northampton in March 2023, to get local businesses involved in our Care Leavers offer.
Care experienced young people often face challenges that make it harder for them to succeed in life – only 6% go on to higher education, compared to 23% of the general population, and 39% find themselves in unemployment with a lack of education or training at the age of 18, compared to 11% of their peers.
At NCT, it is our mission to make sure that every one of our care leavers reaches their full potential and is healthy, happy, safe, secure, valued, and respected. There’s support in-place for our young people leaving care, alongside that from their social worker, by the time they turn 18, which continues until they reach the age of 21.
We ran this event in March to provide our care leavers with the best possible chance to succeed as they approach adulthood. It was a success – over 60 professionals from the local area and varying industries, attended. Businesses from across Northampton made pledges of support to our young people, which included guaranteed interviews and work experience opportunities. The event also heard from our CEO Colin Foster and colleagues in our leaving care team.
We plan to continue to run this event annually and engage even more businesses across Northampton to help support our children and young people. Later this year in July, we’ll be hosting another event where care experienced young people can meet with business professionals directly to discuss their career opportunities. If you know someone who might be interested in attending, please ask them to contact Rachel.Shaw@nctrust.co.uk
If you wish to speak to someone before applying to one of our social work positions, whether that is to discuss the application process or just to find out a bit more about how we work, we'd love to hear from you.