Leicestershire Cares News & Events page
As the festive season approaches, Leicestershire Cares' Delivering Hope 2026 campaign is set to bring businesses, local authorities and community organisations together with one shared purpose: ensuring that no one in our communities feels forgotten
Young people from Leicestershire Cares’ Powering On project showcased original music and performance skills at a community event in Leicester city centre.
Leicestershire Cares celebrates the success of its first-ever Hope N Mic Night, sponsored by Walker and Son On 22 September 2026.
The Cares team were delighted to be invited to take part in Samworth Brothers “big build” 2026.
Leicestershire Cares is proud to announce the launch of its new Education Strategy
Budgeting workshop for care leavers and SEND young people, kindly facilitated by our Business Member, Hinckley & Rugby Building Society
Providing real life experiences to our Care Experienced and SEND young people
Over the past few months, Leicestershire Cares has been running music sessions for young people in The Warehouse, a dedicated space within our office where we host group activities, creative workshops and music sessions.
Young people came together for a day of fun, friendship and independence at Drayton Manor, developing confidence and life skills while creating lasting memories.
From creative workshops and practical training to community partnerships, our hub is where opportunities take shape every week.
After weeks without rain 5 brave volunteers from Samworth Brothers took on a gardening team challenge at Buzzing Roots.
As the temperature soared, the hard work got underway.
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Our June #PowerToChange partners meeting took place on a blistering hot day that could not match the warmth of emotion as our partners said goodbye to our CEO Kieran Breen who retires on the 30th of June.
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Last Saturday, our Women's Empowerment group met for the fourth time. The session centred on a creative and reflective workshop.
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Samworth Brothers Named Business in Education Partner of the Year
The Community Impact Award celebrates businesses that go above and beyond to make a meaningful difference in the local community.
The Impact Through Giving Award honours a business whos donation of time, skills, items or resources have significantly strengthened local community groups and individuals.
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Desford Striders Running Club has been recognised at the Leicestershire Cares Annual Awards following a standout year of fundraising, volunteering, and community involvement in support of the charity.
Leicestershire Cares is delighted to present Hinckley & Rugby Building Society with the SEND Empowerment Award 2026 in recognition of their exceptional commitment to creating inclusive, meaningful opportunities for SEND young people.
Leicestershire Cares was proud to recognise the outstanding contribution of Stepnell as the winner of this year's Employability Champion Award at our annual awards ceremony.
Leicestershire Cares Business Member of the Year Award recognises excellence through corporate volunteering amongst the charity’s business membership network.
Our Volunteer of the Year Award recognises volunteering excellence through the significant and impactful contribution by a particular volunteer or member champion.
We were delighted to award Rebecca Green, of Motability Operations, with our 2026 Rising Star Award.
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The awards honour individuals and businesses who have gone above and beyond for the charity’s projects.
Young people given the chance to peek behind the scenes at local food production company, Délifrance.
Altogether Now participants were joined by British Gas volunteers for a hands-on cookie baking session focused on building confidence, teamwork and practical skills.
Every year Leicestershire Cares celebrates the many businesses and individual volunteers who take time out of their busy schedules to support our youth, community and education work. This year the awards will be held on the 17th of June at Winstanley
Leicestershire Cares were thrilled to be invited as official charity partner at this years SME Awards for Leicestershire, with the final taking place at Leonardo Hinckley Island Hotel on Monday 11th May.
Together We Thrive: Drumming, Creativity and Conversations on Family Last Saturday, we brought our Women’s Empowerment Group, Together we Thrive Project, back together for our fourth session, which focused on a creative and reflective focus group wo
It was great catching up with some of our #PowerToChange community partners on Friday 17th April , to share reflect and learn.
3 Month Update on our Young Womens' Empowerment Group
Katie experienced her first trip to London and the Houses of Parliament, where she confidently shared her views on employment and skills after being selected through her Project SEARCH placement.
Local Community Groups Boosted by Donation of Over 1,700 Easter Eggs Across Leicester and Leicestershire
Two young people from Leicestershire Cares were invited to speak to the Vulnerability Academy at Hinckley & Rugby Building Society about their own lived experiences of SEND and Care Experience.
On the 16th of March, in collaboration with Leicestershire County Council Early Help, the Youth Team at Leicestershire Cares collaborated to host an Employability and Media Day.
Helen Whately, Shadow Secretary of state for the Department of work and pensions met with a cross section of young people, to discuss how Leicestershire Cares has supported them.
Coalville, Leicestershire - A new collaboration between Leicestershire Cares and Coalville CAN is shining a spotlight on the lived experiences of young people in the town, revealing both the challenges they face and the untapped potential they hold.
Businesses explore the power of corporate volunteering
Young people were supported by Hinckley & Rugby Building Society volunteers to deliver a baking workshop this week. Skills were developed and fun was had as the office was turned into a bakery for the day as 36 tasty cupcakes were made!
Working in partnership with Leicester Youth Services, AAA Foundation, Golden Token Community Hub, Haymarket Shopping Centre, 2 Funky Arts and Leicestershire Cares, we delivered a packed programme of activities across the city and county.
Leicestershire Cares youth projects recently came together to deliver a cross-project evening of skills development and fun, visiting De Monfort Hall Theatre for a fantastic and colourful show.
This week, the youth team invited a cross section of participants across our various projects to attend a reflection event.
This year marks a significant milestone for Leicestershire Cares - the 20th anniversary of the Interview Technique Project.
Leicestershire Cares is proud to announce that it is now an official Arts Award Centre, marking an exciting new chapter in its commitment to supporting and empowering young people. This development means that young people engaged with Leicestershire
A year long partnership of fundraising , opportunities for young people and a employee volunteering team challenge
The Community Development Team recently ran the annual Festive Challenge Campaign.
Leicestershire Cares is pleased to announce the fantastic results of this year's #BagsOfHope Campaign, which took place during the 2025 festive period.
As part of our work with care experienced young people and care leavers in Leicestershire, we are pleased to announce our new group and one-to-one offer.
In today’s rapidly evolving labour market, the connection between education and the world of work matters more than ever and one of the most impactful elements of this bridge is the role played by busine
“your grades may get you the interview, but your skills will get you the job”
Motability recently invited staff and students from Enstruct Training for a wonderful Christmas meal and a tour of their factory.
Leicestershire Cares marshals were invited to support the Haymarket Shopping Centre at their Christmas light switch-on event, gaining key skills and experiences whilst getting in the festive spirit.
Leicestershire Cares Volunteers Support SEND and SEMH Students Through Mock Interviews
This November, Cares were invited into Hinckley & Rugby Building Society to deliver a 'Pop-up Spud Café' for the staff.
This week, the youth team decided to host a youth voice event. This event was targeted at participants involved in the criminal justice system as well as participants who are neutral and or have been victims of crime.
The launch of Chat in the Ville aligns with ongoing efforts by Leicestershire Cares’ Powering On project, where youth workers Aaron and Cara aims are to be working closely with young people across the area. Their mission is to ensure young adults are
Leicestershire Cares’ recent Dare to Care fundraising evening proved to be an inspiring celebration of community spirit, generosity, and the powerful connections that bring local people, businesses, and young people together.
Leicestershire Cares received a nomination for the film “Change The Script” which shines a light on the experiences and the need for a change in order to improve the overall outcomes of care experienced young people.
On 22nd of October , our Youth Justice participants took part in a Personal Branding and Mock Interview employability session.
This Halloween, young people from our youth projects were treated to a thrilling evening out at Warwick Castle’s Castle After Dark event.
how careers education in mainstream settings can (and must) adapt to meet the needs of young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
Leicestershire Cares Champions Lunch- Youth Justice Star Champion Leicestershire Cares hosted its Champions Lunch on the 9th of October 2025. This event presented an opportunity for our business members to come together with a view to receiving an up
Our #PowerToChange met on Friday 17th October to share and learn.
Leicestershire Cares’ Powering On project has been making an impact in Wigston through an eight-week outreach programme, aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour and giving young people opportunities to learn, grow, and be heard.
Black girl magic is a group that was created for young black girls by Leicester city council's Youth services and hosted at Leicestershire Cares.
Leicestershire Cares was delighted to support Hinckley & Rugby Building Society (HRBS) with the delivery of their recent Vulnerability Champions training, an important initiative to ensure their services are inclusive and accessible to all.
On Wednesday 3rd September, the Hinckley & Rugby Building Society team headed to Coalville Day Centre, run by Age Uk – to deliver a team “social challenge” to their service users.
Hinckley and Rugby Building Society facilitate a budgeting workshop for the young people at Leicestershire cares.
The Youth Justice team collaborated with Alexander Thomas of GP3 Financial Advisers and Nathan Richardson of Nelsons Law to host the All-Things Investment seminar.
The youth justice team partnered with Veda Women to host a self-care event targeted at women and girls. From First-Day Nerves to Unstoppable Confidence
Kieran and Ross, were delighted to join youth practitioners and young people from across the Reaching People network on Wednesday 20th August at E2 community hub
We are delighted to announce the launch of My Care Journey, a publication curated and created entirely by care experienced young people, giving the reader a unique insight into life in the care system.
On Sunday 10th August, the Leicestershire Cares Community Development Team joined Walker & Son for their Family Fun Day at Leicester Racecourse.
We are delighted to announce the launch of a weekly outreach clinic at Help the Homeless, located on Eldon Street, Leicester. Beginning immediately, the clinic will operate every Monday, offering dedicated support and care to homeless people.
On Tuesday 23rd July, the Youth Justice team at Leicestershire Cares hosted Breaking Barriers a powerful, therapeutic event designed to spark honest conversations around mental health, hidden illnesses,
Take Me Seriously – She Said is a youth-led podcast created by and for young women aged 16–25. Each episode explores real-life issues like social media pressure, ambition, friendship boundaries, and self-worth with honesty and heart. Featuring open c
Our colleagues at Motability Operations took time out from the day to day and spent a day with Marlene Reid Centre (MRC) in Coalville.
Nelsons was awarded ‘Business Member of the Year’ at the Leicestershire Cares annual celebration event for 2025.
In the last year, we have achieved several successes as we supported participants in accessing or continuing in education, employment, and training opportunities. In addition to this, we forged new connections through the All-Things Youth Justice Pod
Leicestershire Cares event marshals support Desford Striders as they host their Steve Morris 5 mile race.
Over four sessions, the young people of Foxfield’s Academy took part in Podcast to Change, a creative learning programme delivered on behalf of Unbox Your Future. The project introduced them to the world of podcasting—building essential skills for bo
The Joining Up Joining In (JUJI) group of Leicestershire Cares are telling everyone about their journeys in and through care....
Leicester, UK — In the upcoming third episode of the youth-led podcast Take Me Seriously the spotlight is on a phrase many young women have heard used to tear them down: “like a girl.” But this time, it is being flipped into a statement of pride and
Monday 23rd June was the day of the Cares’ annual green team challenge. As part of our commitment to both sustainability and employee volunteering, we take time out from the day to day to do something different and benefit the environment.
Haymarket Shopping Centre Community Impact Award 17th June 2025 — The annual Leicestershire Cares Awards, held at the elegant Winstanley House, brought together Business partners, community leaders, and organisations from across the region to celebra
It was great to catch up with our front line #PowerToChange community partners on Friday 20th June, read about it here
Find out who the winners of our Education project awards are
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The Altogether Now Project was delighted to present Everards with the SEND Empowerment award at our annual celebration and awards night.
Local businesses rewarded for volunteering contributions to projects including education, care experienced young people, community development, youth justice and more
We were delighted to announce Hinckley & Rugby Building Society as the winner of our Championing Care Experienced Young People award. The celebration took place at our annual Leicestershire Cares Awards.
The Youth Justice team was delighted to award Everards with the “Youth Justice Award” at Leicestershire Cares Annual Celebration Event 2025. The event provided us with the opportunity to network with our business members
We were delighted to present Nelson Law with our Company of the year at our annual celebration and awards.
We were delighted to present Jenny Hailes of Everards with our Volunteer of the year award at our annual celebration and awards night.
Join our event marshals as they take you through our Annual awards celebration evening.
On the 26th of May, a cross section of participants across all projects within Leicestershire Cares had the privilege of visiting Time Products. This tour was organised by the Youth Justice Team in collaboration with Issie Robinson.
For many young people, the transition from education to employment can be daunting especially when it comes to job interviews. A recent success story from our Youth Justice participants highlights the powerful impact that mock interviews can have in
It was a pleasure for our staff and young people to attend an engaging and informative meeting, hosted by our friends at Reaching People, where we discussed how the community sector can better support young people.
We're excited to announce new advice clinics in Beaumont Leys (in partnership with the GATE Project) and Saffron Lane (at Pork Pie Library), offering support with benefits and energy advice!
The Joining Up Joining In group at Leicestershire Cares have been taking messages out to councils and to government on issues affecting care experienced young people. Now those messages have gone to the APPG on care experience.
Leicester, UK — The youth-led podcast Take Me Seriously has released one of its most personal and powerful episodes yet, opening up a crucial conversation about the hidden signs of anxiety and depression in young women — and why they’re so often miss
Read about our SEND Young people enjoying a day to remember as they enjoyed an unforgettable visit to a Leicester Tigers rugby match, thanks to the generous support of Everards Brewery.
Leicestershire Cares’ strapline, ‘Together We Can’, was truly brought to life recently when employees from two Samworth Brothers businesses teamed up for a community project at a local dementia day care centre.
Leicestershire Cares releases a powerful new film capturing the voices, journeys, and impact of its youth-led Power to Change project.
Mock Interview Events Empower Students and Volunteers Alike
The award nominations for the Leicestershire Cares Celebration event has been announced
In an age where social media noise often drowns out meaningful conversations, one podcast is ready to start cutting through the clutter with a fearless honesty, heart, and a whole lot of empowerments. Take Me Seriously - a podcast created and hosted
Over the past few months, we’ve noticed a sharp rise in financial hardship, with soaring water bills adding pressure. From pensioners to single parents, many are struggling and we’re here to offer support, advice, and practical solutions.
Leicester, May 3 - A wave of positive energy and creative expression filled the Leicestershire Cares car park on Saturday, May 3rd, as young people and members of the local musical community came together for a vibrant open mic and networking event.
Every year, as Easter approaches, the people of Leicestershire are reminded of the true spirit of giving, as businesses from across the county come together in support of those who need it most..
We had an uplifting, creative, and empowering afternoon with our young women’s group as part of the Empower & Bloom spring session – a day designed to encourage personal growth, creativity, and connection to both self and community.
On the All-Things Youth Justice Project, we met with Tony Shergill, a Community Navigator from Ingeus. Tony is currently part of the Phoenix Programme which is a programme set up by the Violence Reduction Network.
We achieved several successes this quarter as we supported participants in accessing education, employment, and training opportunities. In addition to this, we have been trying to create a youth justice film to help amplify the adverse childhood exp
At Leicestershire Cares, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to live a secure, confident, and dignified life; regardless of their background or personal circumstances..
Read about business volunteering with a difference – making a difference to premature babies and their families
Golden token is a youth and community hub in the Rowlatts hill area of Leicester offering an arrange of services for the community.
We had a packed but very productive #PowerToChange Partners meeting on Friday 27th March .
It was great to gather with a cross section of our business champions, at the wonderful Nylacast PLC, meeting room on Thursday 20th March.
We were delighted to present Denise Bradshaw of Hinckley and Rugby Building Society (HRBS) with our star champion award at our March Champions meeting, kindly hosted by Nylacast PLC.
A chance meeting between JL, his probation officer, and the Power to Change project team set the stage for an inspiring transformation. During a brief conversation, it became clear that JL had a deep interest in creative arts.
Read about our exciting week of Career Webinars
The team at Leicestershire Cares held a Mother’s Day photo shoot, complete with afternoon tea and a crafting table, to celebrate our leaving care mums.
Street Doctors bring vital first aid training to the young people of Leicestershire Cares.
The Leaving Care Parents group experience Christmas at Twycross Zoo with the Gruffalo!
Join us as our young people support the Violence Reduction Network's Community Partnership Event 2025
A great cooking session with Jenny Whalley from Leicester High for Girls.
The Youth Justice Team took advantage of the half-term to connect the business community and participants across various projects within Leicestershire Cares in a Design a Mug and Employability Day.
Leicestershire Cares Education team is running a week of Speedy Speakers talks throughout Leicester schools as part of National Careers Week
Our Joining Up Joining In group are embarking on an exciting new project—My Care Journey!
Calling All Young Creators! Starting 4th of March Are you a young aspiring content creator in Leicester?
Read along as the young people of Leicestershire Cares enjoy a night at the Leicester Riders
Leicestershire Cares has once again demonstrated the power of collaboration and generosity through its Bags Of Hope campaign, making a significant impact on communities across the region in 2024. This year, a remarkable 1,087 bags were delivered.
Leicestershire Cares partnered with the Watches of Switzerland Group to work in collaboration to deliver a Winter Warm Coat Drive.
The Leaving Care Team at Leicestershire Cares was recently invited to attend a Care Experience Forum at HMP Leicester to explore how we could provide meaningful support to prisoners who have been through the care system.
Powering Up Football powers on through Champions League in January
Welcome to the Leaving Care Parent's group Podcast Part #1
Jumpstarting 2025 with a busy and impactful January
At Leicestershire Cares we are always looking for opportunities for your Young People to build on their skillsets a head of entering the work of employment. Read along to see what is next for our team of event marshals.
This month, I have had the privilege of attending two newly established clinics at the Peace Centre and the Peepul Centre, also known as the As-Salaam Trust. These clinics have provided me with an invaluable opportunity to engage with and assist indi
We were very proud to join two of our young people, Sheldon and Thaneesha for their swearing in ceremony to the young people’s council.
We achieved several successes this quarter as we supported participants in accessing education, employment, and training opportunities. One highlight was the Craft Your Future event facilitated by Pedestrian. This session was designed to help partici
The Power to change project's content creator group decided to take a short break from creating content by the way of playing a round of crazy golf at the amazing Treetop Golf venue.
Our #PowerToChange partners met in December to reflect on the year just gone and to think about the year ahead.
We joined care campaigners Terry Galloway and Chris Wild, alongside other CEYP from the Midlands, to attend parliament and hand in a petition to Number 10 Downing Street.
On Tuesday 12th November we hosted our #PowerToChange conference at the King Power stadium. Participants came from across the business, community and public sector and were joined by a diverse range of young people
Meet our young person keynotes speaker, Daveena, from our recent Power to Change conference at the King Power Stadium
The views of care experienced young people are being revealed in a new film, produced for Leicestershire Cares.
Our SEND young people journey in to the Dragon's Den to pitch their creativity in a Halloween based activity.
Jampacked host and Power to change participant gets ready for episode #2 Disabilities
Join us on our adventure to Alton Towers, Supporting young people to try new experiences and develop life skills, all whilst having fun and making memories.
Take a look at our Powering Up Project Football Employability session.
We would like to wish all our friends, partners, colleagues and volunteers a very happy Diwali.
Our October half-term empowerment group for young women was a truly impactful session, featuring an arts and crafts workshop led by Victoria Demery from the University of Leicester.
We are thrilled to share the success of our recent Craft Your Future event, facilitated by Pedestrian.
Read about the impact of time spent volunteering in schools
As I reflect on our work over the last six months, my overwhelming feeling is just how much can be achieved when business, community, young people and the public sector work together so that everybody can thrive.
"Caring for Care Leavers" in partnership with Wates Construction
On the Youth Justice Project, we hosted a mock interview session to provide participants with the opportunity to practice their interview skills and receive feedback from experienced professionals.
We were delighted to present Jessica Kalar, from Sytner with our Star Business Champion award at our October Business champions meeting.
We were delighted to catch up with our business champions at Nylacast Plc on Thursday 4th October, to celebrate, share and learn.
Our #PowerToChange community partners were delighted to spend time with Shockat Adam the newly elected independent MP for Leicester South when they met of Friday 20th September.
She also highlighted the complexity of the disclosure system. It was highlighted that several people over-disclose information; the information provided may then be utilised by employers to exclude potential employees from accessing legal employment.
A trip to Twin Lakes with Leicestershire County Council's leaving care team and their parents support group.
In the penultimate session of the Man Cave session , participants delved into key business concepts, including finance and budgeting, accounting, and pricing strategy. This hands-on session provided them with a real-world glimpse of what it takes to
Jameelah (Jam) Came to the Power to Change project with a passion for speaking on community issues and podcasting, however Jam has a visual impairment that makes being able to produce a podcast very difficult.
Power to Change project participants were invited to be apart of a short film Doc Media Centre has been commissioned to create for the NHS
The summer session fantastic experience filled with creativity and culture. Highlights included a fun paint and pizza day, and an inspiring trip to the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery to view Renoir’s masterpiece, The Umbrellas.
Welcoming friends and colleagues from the business, public, education and VCSE sector - our Power To Change conference aims to bring everyone together so no one is left behind.
On the All Things Youth Justice Podcast, we met with Dr. Nicola Collett, a Criminologist at De Montfort University. Dr Nicola is an early-career researcher.
We are proud to announce that we are nominees in the Education and Business Partnership category.
The young people of Leicestershire Cares head to Cocoa Amore to get creative with a chocolatiers workshop.
POWER TO CHANGE PROJECT SWEET ADVENTURE: A CHOCOLATE-MAKING JOURNEY
Come along and see your team building session with the Altogether Now project at Leicester Outdoor Pursuit Centre.
The second week of the Man Cave session we kicked off with a session dedicated to the importance of developing an idea and turning it into reality
The Power to Change project joins the Alltogether Now project on a fun day out at Beaumanor Hall
The Youth Justice Project which comprises of the Phoenix Project and VIP Project works with young people involved in the justice system.
Leicestershire Cares' business volunteers spoke about their careers with SEND students at Forest Way School and Rawlins Academy
Read about a week with Leicestershire Cares
The Altogether Now Project hosted an activity day to Beaumanor Hall, building confidence and developing team building skills
In the last year, we have experienced various successes as we supported participants in enabling them access to education, employment, and training. In order to enable
The Power to change project embarked on a visit to the local Porsche dealership. The members were eager to immerse themselves in the legacy and innovation that defined Porsche, one of the most iconic names in the automotive world.
HRBS welcomed us in to their finance department to offer insight in to careers in finance
The Youth Justice team was delighted to host a Health and Wellbeing Day on the 19th of June at our offices. This event aimed to provide a safe place for young people to network with members of the business community whilst learning
(Power to change)The adventure of learning a Brazilian dance under the guidance of a seasoned dancer name Aura.
Saturday 8th of June marked the day that Africa fest came to Leicester and the Power to change project participants were invited to get involved and display all the talents and skills that have acquired from attending our sessions.
Our #PowerTo Change community partners had a very productive meeting on Friday 7th June.
Young people from the Altogether Now project headed to Treetops Crazy golf for a evening full of team work, confidence building and fun with new friends.
During the May half-term, we held another successful session for the empowerment group for young women, with great local organisation's delivering a great session!
Last Week , the Youth Justice Team participated in an exciting work tour facilitated by Sytner, offering participants a overview of Audi's operations and the various career opportunities available within the company.
The Joining Up Joining In project hosted a consultation with University of Northampton Access and Participation team to explore their current offer of support for students with care experience.
Over the past 6 months we have worked alongside the deputy leader for Leicestershire County Council Deborah Taylor and peer researchers on the Joining Up Joining In project to achieve positive outcomes for those with care experience
At the conclusion of our annual celebration, we showed this inspiring video which gives an idea of the impact our creative and agile partnerships have made throughout the year.
Our Neighbourhood Support Officer facilitated a unique opportunity for some of the participants at Wesley Hall to embark on a community work tour at Walkers & Son, which was orchestrated by our dedicated champion, Tracy Renshaw.
Leicestershire Cares partners with Reaching People on their Refurb project to enable people to develop their digital skills.
We were delighted to present John Neat of Walker and Son, Samworth Brothers with our prestigious volunteer of the year award
We were delighted to present Roxane George of Everards with our rising star award at our annual celebration and awards ceremony.
The final award at our annual celebration and awards evening 2024, was our prestigious business member of the year award.
Power to Change Project participants have been show casing their skills and talents at our recent Annual Celebration Awards
A small team of volunteers from Cambridge & Counties Bank have given their time and expertise to run a card making session at SoundCafe.
Everards Brewery have recently completed the creation of a sensory garden at Holmfield Day Centre.
Over the past year, Walkers and Son have worked closely with Mind Aid UK to transform a community allotment which will be instrumental for the future work.
Over the past few months three local businesses have volunteered their time at Baby Basics, helping to reach families in need.
Thursday 16th May marked our Annual Awards Celebration, an evening of celebrating successes and raising awareness about our work
The Community Development Team are happy to announce Pepsico as the winners of this years Business Contribution to a Community Group award
The Community Development Team are delighted to announce Walkers Deli and Sausage as the winners of this years Business Contribution to Festive Campaigns award
Our Community Development Team are pleased to announce Everards as the winners of the Business Contribution to Community Development award
Read about our Business Contribution to Education from this years Annual Celebration
Read about our Education Volunteer of the Year for this years Annual Celebration Event
The Altogether Now Project are delighted to award Sytner Group "Business contribution to work with SEND young people award 2024" at Leicestershire cares celebration evening 2024
The Youth Justice team was delighted to award Nelsons with the “Business Contribution to the Youth Justice Project Award” at Leicestershire Cares Annual Celebration Event 2024.
The Leaving care team were delighted to award Walker and Son with the “Business Contribution to work with Care Experienced Young People Award 2024” at the Leicestershire Cares Celebration Event 2023.
Community based interview techniques for our SEND young people
Local business CPW give their time, energy and care to give The Laura Centre bathroom an amazing facelift.
We are delighted to announce our nominees for our upcoming awards night on the 16th May
Over coming barriers for independent travelling
In a heartening display, the Leicestershire Cares Green Team orchestrated a transformative initiative, enhancing the aesthetics of their office car park with vibrant greenery with the help of our young people.
The Joining Up Joining In (JUJI) group recently held a workshop with staff from the Trussell Trust on looking at the financial issues facing young people today.
To celebrate Earth Day on 22nd April, we created a pop up swap shop in the LC warehouse, to draw attention to the harmful effects of fast fashion and encourage staff and visitors to reuse and exchange items instead of buying new.
Leicestershire Cares Leaving Care Team recently engaged in a day of volunteering at Everard Meadows, contributing to the Willow Tree Fencing project underway at the site.
As Making Moves project draws to a close, the Moneywise Living project is launched.
Bav Majithia, co-owner of Yiannimize sat down with the hosts of the All-Things Youth Justice Podcast at Leicestershire Cares to discuss his journey and the lessons learned over the years.
During this quarter, we delivered a mock interview preparation event with Pathways, Mock Interview at Nelsons Law, delivered a Career and Hoodie Design Day in collaboration with various business members and local businesses
17 Power to Change project Content Creator workshops with 148 attendances
We recently organised an Easter session tailored for young women to engage in activities during their half-term break.
Following on from the successes of the Festive period, the Community Development team have continued to collaborate and engage with business members and community groups.
Thanks to the kind generosity of our business members, our Easter Eggstravaganza campaign has been a great success
JUJI is working hard to help councils and businesses recognise care experience as a protected characteristic, so that young people from the care system can be supported in their process of growing up.
A trip to Windmill Farm with Leicestershire County Council's leaving care team and their parents support group.
SoundCafé and Leicestershire Cares are working in harmony.
Read about our Education Project's employment event at Limehurst
On Tuesday 12th March, Everards Brewery gave their time and energy to begin work on a new sensory garden at a local dementia day care centre.
Golden Heart appreciation for Walkers Sausage and Deli for their amazing contributions towards Festive Challenges
Golden Heart appreciation for Thermo Fisher Scientific for their amazing contributions towards Festive Challenges
The new Altogether Now Project team have been busy planning the future of Leicestershire Cares' work with SEND young people
Follow SU's journey from early engagement with Leicestershire Cares to releasing his own music
Successful student engagement Rawlins Academy Career Day:
Leicestershire Cares hosted its annual Spring Champions Lunch on the 6th of March 2024. This event presented an opportunity for our business members to come together to receive an update about our work and ways that they can get involved. Champions f
We were delighted to present Jenny Hailes from Everards with our Star Business Champion award at our champions meeting on Tuesday 5th March, generously hosted by Nylacast at their head office
Since September 2023 there has been a developing relationship between the Powering up Project and the team at Walker and Son. This connection has blossomed through a shared vision of supporting our communities through sport.
The Leicestershire Cares’ Joining Up Joining In (JUJI) project, funded by the Blagrave Trust, is celebrating the County Council’s decision to treat “Care Experience” as a protected characteristic, after their lead member for children and young people
On the 21st of February, Leicestershire Cares Youth Justice Team hosted a Careers and Hoodie Design Day. The funds that made this day possible are attributable to Exhibit and the People’s Postcode Trust for which we are truly grateful.
We have partnered with Reaching People’s Refurb project , to encourage local business community to encourage staff to donate unwanted, old laptops, tablets and digital phones, to people in need.
During the recent half term, the Youth Justice team at LC hosted several employability sessions for our VIP/Phoenix participants. We began the week with mock interview preparation delivered by Pathways, focusing on getting participants ready.
Over the last year, I have been immensely proud and humbled to lead an organisation that brings people together, to offer support and connection to young people and communities who are struggling.
2023 saw another successful campaign reach out to 29 community groups and charities across Leicester and Leicestershire.
Leicestershire Cares would like to thanks the 53 business volunteers that gave their time.
We were delighted to receive a donation from Stowe Family Law Action to support our work with young people and communities.
It was great to catch up with members of our #PowerToChange partners community group, on the morning of Friday 2nd February.
Young people from our Digital Media Group and Haymarket Youth Hub have joined together to form the Content Creator group.
Read our peer researchers thoughts on how the Joining Up Joining In project has positively impacted on their lives
Huge thanks to RH Amar, one of the UK’s leading full-service distributors and growth partners for ambient grocery products, for a donation of five thousand pounds for our vital work
This quarter, the Youth Justice team partnered with HRBS to conduct a budgeting session and collaborated with Hastings Direct to organize a work tour. Additionally, we conducted multiple one-to-one sessions, all aimed at helping participants achieve
Catch up on what the education team have been delivering over the Autumn Term
On behalf of Toys on the Table, Leicestershire Cares would like to thank all of the participating businesses for their ongoing support for this very worthy cause.
Walkers Deli entertain the guests at Holmfield Day Care Centre with festive bingo and afternoon tea.
Leicestershire Cares have trained up some care experienced young people to do peer research, and the JUJI group went to London to learn more about Comms from partners the Learning and Work Institute.
We’re so grateful, every single volunteer was a massive help and we’re all really thankful that they came.
We have been working closely with Leicestershire County Councils leaving care team to support care experienced parent across 2023.
The Meals Division at Samworth Brothers volunteer their time and energy to make the annual Christmas party a great success.
The volunteering work brought lots of “Christmas cheer” to many of our locals, bringing them all together.
The volunteers did an amazing job, creating a bright, clear, and attractive environment.
During the summer Peer Researchers on the Joining Up Joining In project at Leicestershire Cares started a piece of research exploring people views and opinions on protecting those of care experience under the Equality Act 2010.
Focusing our support for SEND Young people at a time they need it most
Leicestershire Cares is working with the local NHS Integrated Care Board to help young people have their say on health services in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
We started out with a group of five young people from different backgrounds and very different abilities who were all very keen to get involved in the many different disciplines we had to offer.
Over the last couple of months we have been working with the team at Walker and Son to establish a relationship that can help to connect business, volunteers and young people across the community.
On Wednesday the 15th of November, our Youth Justice Team which comprises of the VIP and Phoenix project attended a work tour facilitated by Kieran Chand, Engagement Leader at Hastings Direct.
Councillor Deborah Taylor joined our Joining Up Joining In session
Since the summer of 2022 the Powering Up Project has been delivering a sports project with the aim of raising aspirations and improving outcomes for our participants..
On Monday, the Violence Intervention/Phoenix Project hosted a Budgeting workshop led by our business members, Hinckley and Rugby Building Society.
Helping our young people to tackle inhibition through exhibition.
Take a look at the Empowerment Group for Young Women at Leicestershire Cares.
Our Education team were honoured and humbled to win the East Midlands Chambers award for Business and Education Partnership at their annual awards ceremony on Friday 3rd November.
This report presents the findings of Leicestershire Cares’ survey exploring opinions on whether being care experienced should be recognised as a protected characteristic in Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland.
Our new Community and Business Development Officer has been actively engaging with business members and community groups over the past three months.
The last quarter we have continued to work with our funders Esmee Fairbairn and Blagrave Trust. Locally, we have worked with a range of additional partners to increase our awareness of the challenges care experienced young people face.
Welcome to the first update of our new SEND Project for young people
It was a real pleasure to catch up with our Business Champions, to discuss how we can partner together over the coming months.
We were delighted to present Danielle Young from Nelsons Solicitors with our Star Business Champion award at our October Champions award.
Over the past three months, our team has been focused on developing new initiatives in the community.
Making Moves is a project that provides support to individuals in need of assistance with their housing and benefits. We ensure that everyone receives equal support regardless of age by helping at four community clinics and four youth clinics.
It's that exciting time of the year when we are beginning to focus on our festive appeals. Read more and get involved....
This week, the VIP and Phoenix project took advantage of the half-term and facilitated an employability and fun day. 6 participants comprising of 2 females and 4 males were in attendance.
Thanks to the success of the VIP project, we secured extra funding to offer ETE (Education, Training, and Employment) support for the Phoenix program. As the preferred ETE provider, the VIP/Phoenix project remains committed to aiding young individual
The boys at the Freedom Youth Club chose a traditional Syrian dessert, saying this would give them a taste of home.
All too often families of prisoners are the invisible and forgotten victims of the criminal justice system
Our #PowerToChange community partners network had a very positive meeting on Friday 6th October. We were joined by Abi Battisto ,VCSE Engagement Manager for Leicester City Council and Jacob Brown, Children, Young People and Families Engagement...
Thermofisher kindly donated their time, resources and energy in to transforming a community garden at Gorse Covert Community Centre
We were delighted to be asked to run a workshop at the “Improving Employability for Young People with Care Experience” national summit meeting on October 3rd, 2023
Our staff team, business volunteers and young people were given a real boost , this week when we discovered we had won the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Chamber Business Award in the Community Champion category for the East Midlands region.
e are delighted to be working in partnership with Reaching People on their excellent Refurb project.
Since July we have been working closely with Leicestershire County Councils Leaving Care Team supporting Care Experienced Parents and their children.
Congratulations to Walkers and Son
We were delighted to present Chris Oakes , Alltruck plc with our Leicestershire Cares’ Volunteer of the Year Award 2023, at our annual awards and celebration.
The Powering Up Project were delighted to award Chris Oakes at Alltruck with the “Outstanding Volunteer Contribution to work with Care Experienced Young People Award” at the Leicestershire Cares Celebration Event 2023.
We were delighted to present Samworth brothers with our company of the year award at our annual awards and celebration.
The VIP team were delighted to award Sue Wollett with the “Outstanding Volunteer Contribution to the VIP Project Award” award at the Leicestershire Cares Celebration Event 2023.
The VIP team were delighted to award CPW with the “Outstanding Business Contribution to the VIP Project Award” award at the Leicestershire Cares Celebration Event 2023.
Huge congratulations to Kelli Lee from Cambridge and Counties Bank
We celebrate our award winners Hinckley and Rugby Building Society
We celebrate our award winners Nelson's Law
We celebrate our award winners Everards of Leicestershire
We celebrate our award winner Tracey Ingram from Hinckley and Rugby Building Society
The Youth Team were delighted to present the Outstanding Contribution to NEET Young People Award 2023 to Sytner Group at the annual awards and celebration.
She joined the Power to Change project not really knowing what she wanted to achieve out of life and was not sure which direction life was heading
Since joining the Power to Change workshops he has noticeably grown in confidence and is now a valued member of the group and has made some trusted friends. #TOGETHER WE CAN
Our Homelessness and Benefits Advisor has also been busy contacting local community groups and centres with the aim of setting up fortnightly drop-in sessions within the community. The feedback on the idea has been amazing.
Caring for Care leavers renovation project was developed in relation to Wates current involvement within the Leicester area as part of their social value outreach.
As part of our Power to Change Project, our Youth and Community Development Officer has been supporting, guiding at a brand-new youth hub based in the Rowlatts Hill area of Leicester.
Our new Community and Business Support Officer, Bekki Williamson, has been out and about visiting businesses and community groups and is now excited to get challenges organised. So please get involved is you haven’t done so already.
We are launching our new SEND youth offer and welcome Annie who will be leading the project.
We are currently delivering campaigns and participation activities supported by the Blagrave Trust working in collaboration with the Learning and Work Institute.
We received a referral from Turning Point for a female VIP participant. During the initial assessment and subsequent sessions, she came across as a young person who was driven to succeed in life. JG had obtained good grades in her GCSE exams, but she
The #PowerTo Change partners group has been meeting regularly since May 2022.
It was great to be able to to support the Freedom youth club, one of our community partners on their annual trip to the sea side.
Last week, the Violence Intervention project took participants to the Curve Theatre to watch “Heathers," the West End Hit production. This was the first time for participants to experience the theatre and creative arts.
Leicestershire Cares took delivery of a wide range of audio-visual equipment, this week, from AV Loans who are based within the DMU Campus.
On Friday 11th August Leicestershire Cares hosted a mental health awareness seminar, ran by Leicestershire Police metal health team.
Thursday 10th August saw our first Digital Media workshop session, held in the Leicestershire Care warehouse. The young people who attended got the opportunity to learn the art of recording a podcast, including setting up the equipment.
We are shaking up our volunteer offer to give you to the chance to join in with something different
Last month, the Violence Intervention Project hosted the CV Clinic, Networking, and Employability Day. Our business partners, such as Hinckley and Rugby Society, Nelson Law Solicitors, Samworth Brothers, Pochin, and Stepnell, were invited.
Both our funders on the Powering Up and Joining Up Joining In projects, Esmee Fairburn Foundation and the Blagrave Trust have given us an opportunity to support young people in variety of ways, giving us the tools to empower young people.
On the Phoenix Programme, we recently attended a training on child criminal exploitation. The Phoenix Programme is being designed as part of the local partnership response to prevent and reduce serious violence.
Our team met on Tuesday 1st August to reflect on the learning arising form our work over the past year.
The Joining up Joining In project welcomed Malcom from UK Parliament to host and deliver a workshop on the Parliamentary system.
The Education Team have come to the end of a busy term delivering employability workshops and work tours for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability with our wonderful volunteers for the We Discover project
Over the last 3 months the community development team have newly recruited a youth homelessness and benefits adviser.
We’re so proud of our Education Development Officer, Fiona Spence-Arnold who has her debut book for children published by HoneyCraft.org
The VIP project has continued to maintain a strong working relationship with the Violence Reduction Network as well as key stakeholders. As the ETE provider of choice, we have been consistent in providing tailored interventions to young people invol
Lady Jane Court Care Home hosts a brilliant work tour for students with SEND from Ash Field Academy
Students from Millgate School in Leicester, and Sense College, in Loughborough, attended Thermo Fisher Scientific for wonderful work tours around their warehouse in Loughborough
The Powering up Project has been delivering Powering Up football sessions aimed at improving outcomes for looked after children and the asylum seeking a refugee community of Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland.
As we approach the end of the academic year, we have taken some time to reflect on work in mainstream and SEND secondary schools.
Exploring developmental and career benefits of employees volunteering in education
Our campaigns and participation group Joining Up Joining In have started their peer researcher training delivered by the learning and Work Institute.
The Powering Up Project at Leicestershire Cares are currently developing a Empowerment Group for Young Women. The project is due to start on the first week of August and run for 6 sessions.
At our recent away day, the team took a step back to think about how we learn from our work and continually improve
New analysis from Loughborough university, shows 40% of children in Leicester are living in Poverty. Many of these children live in families where at least one parent is working.
As part of our ongoing commitment to reflection learning and development, our team met at the offices of Rock Kitchen Harris, on Tuesday 20th June, for an away day where we reflected on the learning arising from implementing our #PowerToChang
Our #PowerTo Change community partners meeting enables a cross section of our community partners to share, reflect and learn together.
Check out an article about our Focus on the Future pack for business aimed at raising awareness of visual impairment published by CareerMap in their magazine CareerMag this month
The VIP project and Powering Up project collaborated with Pathways and MBD to deliver a lip sync animation project.
It was great to catch up with Anna from the princes trust in Glasgow, Scotland to discuss best practice when working with care experienced young people.
As we roll towards our final half term break, into GCSE exams and then onto the long school summer break, we here at Leicestershire Cares are in the midst of planning the next academic year.
The VIP team from Leicestershire Cares visited VIP team at the Royal Infirmary to have a better understanding of the internal processes by which we receive our referrals.
Our #PowerToChange community partners met on Friday 5th May 2023,to share and discuss the issues arising from our work.
Kieran our CEO was delighted to be asked to share learning arising from our #PowerToChange project with staff from TNLCF, as part of their “Learning Month on Young People and Transition”.
Staff at Leicestershire Cares make a small change with a big difference
The Community Development Team had a fantastic quarter, with a successful Easter campaign and impacting events.
The Education Team had a packed Spring term organising, recruiting volunteers and delivering bespoke employability events, workshops and work tours with SEND schools for the We Discover project
In our education projects we have been working closely with our partner businesses to help young people to make connections with businesses to raise confidence and aspirations in order to enhance educational experience and build employability skills.
The Violence Intervention Project continues to utilise Leicestershire Cares Power to Change approach in the provision of holistic interventions to young people. The main aim of the VIP Project is to empower young people aged 11-25 who have offended o
Our Full team came together on Tuesday 25th May to share, reflect, and learn, from the successes and challenges arising from our work over the last quarter.
Over Quarter 3 young people have accessed a range of education, training and employment opportunities. We have enabled young people to take part in a range of creative mentoring as well as campaigns and participation activities.
At our recent Spring Champions meeting we were excited to launch a pack aimed at raising awareness of visual impairment with our businesses.
Our #PowerToChange project, which is funded by the “The National Lottery Community Fund” is committed to building understanding and partnership between communities, young people, business, and public sector. So, we were delighted to share an Iftar me
As the weathers improving and the sun is shining, everything is blooming and going well for the education team. We have had a busy couple of months organising and delivering successful events in schools in the county and city. We’ve also been getting
Our #PowerTo Change community partners group met on Friday 24th March.
Our campaigns and participation group Joining Up Joining In have started thinking about the lived experiences of those in the care system and the changes they would like to see for the future of those in care.
Sue Woollett from Stepnell is our Star Champion
The SEND We Discover employability project goes from strength to strength and the Education Team are launching an info pack aimed at our member businesses about our work with visually impaired young people
We were delighted to be invited to the Thermo Fisher Scientific relaunch event to share with employees ways to get involved in our work.
Leicestershire Cares is marking International Women's Day by commemorating #embracingequity.
The purpose of the personal branding session under the power with strand, was therefore to connect young people with the business community to equip them with skills to work effectively in a team and learn about education options and ways to behave
On Wednesday 22nd of February we delivered an enterprise workshop aimed at raising awareness and aspirations with a group of young people from the UASC community we work closely with in collaboration with the Freedom Youth Club.
This article will display some of the creative and agile measures that Leicestershire Cares have taken to support SEND young people to access available provision.
Trauma-informed practice is an approach to health and care interventions which is grounded in the understanding that trauma exposure can impact an individual’s neurological, biological, psychological and social development.
On February 2nd 2023, the Department for Education (DfE) formally announced its response to the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England.
With the YES Project coming to an end at the end of March 2023, Leicestershire Cares staff attended the #FuturesReimagined Legacy Event to celebrate the hard work of partners and the success of young people since the start of YES in 2016.
Leicestershire Cares ended 2022 in a very positive way. Throughout the year our creative and agile, business, community and public sector partnership approach had delivered a wide range of projects that had seen us
The Leicestershire Cares team discusses Quarter 2, newsletters and branding in our latest team meeting
Students from West Gate school were treated to an interesting, informative, fun, hands-on work tour at Hinckley and Rugby Building Society’s head office for the We Discover project
The Powering up Project has been building on the positive work of Quarter 1 and continuing to strengthen the positive relationships and partnerships established to improve outcomes for care experienced young people.
Our #PowerToChange partners network was delighted to welcome Steve Meadwell, Regional Manager Midlands , Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).
The Education Team had a busy Autumn term organising and delivering successful interview technique events, employability events and workshops both in schools and remotely
Our #PowerToChange partners network was delighted to welcome Asst Mayor Mustafa Malik, who is the city council cabinet member with responsibility for communities and equalities.
The Education Team had a packed Autumn term organising, recruiting volunteers and delivering employability events and workshops in special schools for the We Discover project
The YES Project reached its penultimate quarter in Q2 which saw the team focus heavily on sourcing positive outcomes for participants and utilising links with business and community to provide employability support.
The Community Development Team are proud to announce the incredible results of their 2022 Toys on the Table campaign.
Our Community Development Team are pleased to provide a final update on their fantastic 2022 Festive Challenges campaign!
We have been working with our care experienced young people on the Powering Up project discussing their lived experiences of mental health in and out of the care system.
The Violence Intervention Project has had a successful quarter and had the opportunity to create new partnerships whilst assisting young people access education employment and training. The main aim of the VIP Project is to empower young people aged
The Community Development Team had a terrific quarter over the festive period. With a massively successful trio of campaigns now concluded, we're looking forward to collaborating with our business members on some Team Challenges!
Our Community Development Team are delighted to share the grand totals for their 2022 #BagsOfHope Campaign!
Kieran, our CEO has written a brief summary of our year and thank you for our staff.
This week on the VIP project, we had the opportunity to visit Nylacast, a business with whom we at Leicestershire Cares partner with. During this meeting, we discussed opportunities for work experience and apprenticeships.
The Powering up Project celebrated Christmas by hosting a night of activities for our care experienced young people alongside a trip to the Theatre.
This school term just over 50 business volunteers gave mock interviews and valuable feedback to 727 students across schools in Leicester and Leicestershire.
The last session of Project Pony was marked by an ending ceremony. Young people worked on letting go, marking endings in their life and how to integrate the beginning that comes after an ending.
Our Community Development Team are hard at work on our #BagsOfHope Campaign, partnering up with our business members to deliver bags of essential items and festive treats to disadvantaged communities across Leicestershire.
Our Toys on the Table Campaign is giving businesses the opportunity to help wrap presents for children and young people from disadvantaged communities across the city and county.
The Community Development Team are pulling out all the stops on this year’s Festive Challenges campaign, collaborating with businesses and community groups to support events that bring joy and cheer into people’s lives this festive season.
The Community Development Team recently supported the Antoin Akpom Achievements Foundation at their annual awards ceremony at the Abbey Sports and Leisure Gym in Leicester City.
We Discover – an update on Leicestershire Cares’ rewarding volunteering opportunities in special schools
Members of our team had a great night out attending the Furnley House Foundation Community Champions Awards.
One of our VIP participants had a background in retail, but she expressed an interested in engineering and the sustainability of buildings. After exploring various options, we approached the director of CPW John Hauton, and he facilitated work
Today, young people from YES, Powering Up, VIP and We Discover projects had the amazing opportunity to go on another work tour organised by the Sytner Group – this time to their Bentley and Lamborghini Dealership.
Members of our Powering Up, team, who work with care experienced young people, were delighted to attend the Esmee Fairbairn leaving care programme learning day for practitioners from across the UK.
We celebrated our care experienced young people's stories on the "Powering Up" project focusing on realising their potential. We asked our care experienced young people to share their inspirational stories through the use of imagery and creative arts
The Leicestershire Business Awards, held in partnership with headline sponsor Mazars, recognised East Midlands Chamber members across 13 categories.
The last few months have been a time of rapid change and challenge. Two new PM’s, the Queen passing away, the threat of nuclear war in Europe, the continuing cost of living crisis and the much publicised riots in Leicester East
A cross section of our “Power to Change” youth and community partners came together on Friday 4th November, to share practice and learning and to meet with Asst Mayor Danny Myers, to discuss how we could partner more effectively with the city council
Our Community Development Team recently sponsored and supported the Wesley Hall Community Centre in Leicester City for an event celebrating the Diwali religious festival.
We were delighted to present Denise Bradshaw from Hinckley & Rugby Building Society with a golden heart at our November business champions event.
We were delighted to present Jenny Hailes from Everards with our Star business champion award at our November business champions event.
The Community Development Team have partnered with the Leicestershire Police, along with the Gurudwara Shri Guru Dashmesh Sahib in Rushey Mead and the GNG Gurdwara Nine Holy Bones in the city centre, to support sports projects for young people.
Our Community Development Team recently partnered with our business member Melton Foods to deliver a Team Challenge at Pepper’s – A Safe Place.
The YES Project saw increased engagement in LC activities in Q1 with The YES Project really began to start preparing for the end of the programme
Our Community Development Team are now launching their #BagsOfHope campaign for 2022, aiming to deliver bags of festive treats to communities in danger of being left behind.
The staff, volunteers and trustees of Leicestershire Cares, would like to wish all our friends and partners a very happy Diwali.
Leicestershire Cares, along with other community organisations and individuals, took part in an event with the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory to help improve the family justice system
We are pleased to have secured funding from the Violence Reduction Network until March 2024 to continue delivering the Violence Intervention Project (VIP Project).
The Community Development Team had a terrific quarter this summer. With several campaigns now completed and more in the works, we look forward to partnering up with our business members and making a difference in people’s lives this festive season.
Over quarter 1 we have supported 13 young people into or retaining some type of employment (both paid and voluntary), training or education.
On Monday 17th October staff and young people from across our projects got together to celebrate Black History Month.
Last Thursday, 13th October, Neetu and Kieran accompanied our PCC, Rupert Mathews, to the Belgrave Road, to discuss local issues with our local partners.
We were delighted to host a visit of Rupert Matthews, our Police and Crime Commissioner on Thursday 13th October to meet with members of our team to discuss community safety issue and challenges that the young people and community groups face.
Neetu was delighted to win the Together Award at BBC Radio Leicester’s inaugural Make a Difference community Awards.
Quarter 1 for the education team saw the last interview technique events of the academic year and planning for the new academic year.
Boost employability skills for students with Special Educational Needs and Disability by volunteering for the We Discover project
The Community Development Team joined a team of volunteers from PepsiCo for a Team Challenge at ADHD Solutions in Leicester City.
Our community development team is keen to ensure that our work is rooted in the everyday lived experiences of the communities where we operate
This Tuesday, the Community Development Team joined a team of volunteers from Stepnell Ltd. for a Team Challenge at the Adhar Project in Leicester City.
On Thursday 22nd September, the Community Development Team joined a team of volunteers from Walkers Sausage Co. for a Team Challenge at the SpiritAtPlay horse refuge and therapy centre at Illston on the Hill, outside Leicester City.
Last Wednesday, the Community Development Team joined a volunteer team from Thermo Fisher Scientific UK for a Team Challenge at the Gorse Covert Community Centre in Loughborough.
On Monday and Tuesday the 12th and 13th of September, the Community Development Team joined volunteers from CPW Engineering for a Team Challenge with Enrych.
On Saturday 10th September, the Community Development Team joined a team of volunteers from Walker & Son for a Team Challenge at Christ-the-King Church in Beaumont Leys, Leicester.
Today Leicestershire Cares publishes the findings of their rapid assessment of the impact of the cost of living crisis on vulnerable young people in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
We were delighted to announce Carla Loughrey of Hinckley and Rugby Building Society as the winner of the ‘Education Volunteer of the Year’ award at our celebration evening.
The Community Development Team were delighted to present Francesca Summers at Sytner Group with the award for Community Development Volunteer of the Year.
The Community Development Team were delighted to present Francesca Summers at Sytner Group with the award for Outstanding Contribution to the #BagsOfHope Campaign.
We were delighted to announce Joules as the winner of the ‘Outstanding contribution to Employability’ award at our celebration evening.
The Community Development Team were delighted to present Louise Bilbie at Stepnell Ltd with the award for Outstanding Contribution to a Holiday Hunger Scheme.
We were delighted to present Alltruck with our outstanding contribution to digital inclusion at our 2022, annual celebration and awards.
We were delighted to announce Leicester City Council as the winner of the ‘Outstanding contribution to interview technique award at our celebration evening.
The VIP team were delighted to award All Truck PLC with the “Outstanding Contribution to work with Young Offenders” award at the Leicestershire Cares Celebration Event 2022.
Everards Brewery LTD wins the Outstanding Contribution to Work with Care Experienced Young People at our awards evening 2022
It was wonderful to have Sangeeta Patel from Moneywise Plus attend our annual celebration and share with us the progress made in our partnership to tackle the digital divide.
We were delighted to announce Joules as our 2022 company of the year at our annual celebration and awards.
Huge congratulations to Tracy Renshaw from Walker & Son, Samworth Brothers, who won the volunteer of the year award at our annual celebration and awards evening.
Hinckley and Rugby Building Society wins Outstanding Contribution to Work with Students with Special Educational Needs and Disability at our awards evening
The YES team were delighted to award Walker & Son with this award at the Leicestershire Cares Celebration Event 2022
Our annual award ceremony was held yesterday evening at the stunning Winstanley House in Leicester.
We have many new volunteering opportunities coming up in special schools across the city and county as part of the We Discover project
Leading the way is an equestrian therapy programme that aims to improve participants mental health and wellbeing.
As part of our commitment to encouraging local discussion and policy development we hosted a webinar on Sept 7th to examine how the care review might impact on children and young people locally.
Feedback shows that businesses and organisations can help to develop their staff and improve their skills by being part of our student mock interview events.
One of our participants was referred to the VIP project for assistance with identifying forklift driver jobs. During his initial assessment, he mentioned that he worked as a forklift driver but assessed the environment to be unsafe.
Over the past 10 weeks we have been offering and providing Community Football for the UASC, refugee and care experienced communities
On Wednesday 31st August, the Community Development Team joined a group of volunteers from the National Lottery Community Fund for a Team Challenge at the Manor House Community Centre in Leicester City.
YES Participants visited the Joules Head Office in Market Harborough for a World of Work Tour
Yesterday, the Community Development Team hosted a “Young People’s Mental Health Consultation Event” with the local mental health charity Jamila’s Legacy.
The Community Development Team have nominated a variety of business partners in four different categories for the upcoming Leicestershire Cares annual awards ceremony. A huge congratulations to all our nominees!
Congratulations to our member businesses who have been shortlisted for this category in our annual volunteer awards
Over the last year despite the many challenges we have faced, our staff, young people, schools, community, public sector, business partners and volunteers have consistently worked together to ensure we keep on developing and delivering.
Congratulations to our member businesses who have been shortlisted for this category.
We are delighted to be shortlisted for two East Midlands Chamber 2022 Business Awards.
Congratulations to the outstanding volunteers who have been shortlisted this year.
Congratulations to our member businesses who have been shortlisted this year.
Last Monday, the Community Development Team attended a barbeque fundraiser organised by Francesca Summer at Leicestershire Cares’ business partner Sytner Group.
Last Tuesday, the Head of Community Development Neetu Squire partnered up with community groups to provide 30 young people with a trip the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, in order to engage them in UK governmental politics.
The Youth Employability Support (YES) Project supports local young people aged 15-24 to overcome challenges and barriers that have prevented them from finding a job or seeking further education.
This past year has been a busy and productive one for the Community Development Team. We supported communities throughout the pandemic and, with the lifting of lockdown restrictions, we have been expanding engagement with communities and businesses.
Over the last year our care experienced work has been very successful. In total, we have supported 75 care experienced young people through our Voices, Joining Up, Joining In and Powering Up projects.
The VIP Project aims to reduce re-offending and equip young people aged 10-24 with the skills they require to lead successful lives. The VIP Project has been operational from January 2022, and in this time, we have experienced various successes.
With a mix of remote and face to face events, our business volunteers have supported just over 10,000 students with their interview and employability skills in this academic school year.
This month, we were delighted to get the chance to host a World of Work tour at one of Sytner’s sites once again
New employability programme in partnership with the Leicester & Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership gets underway
An evaluation commissioned by the VRN found that our person-centred, tenacious and strengths-based support is key to enabling young people to achieve outcomes
Leicestershire Cares was thrilled to take part in the Midlands Hope Hack organised by the Hope Collective
We finished our Employability programme for students with a visual impairment with an inspiring, informative work tour of Leicester City Football Stadium
Kieran attended the Leicester Children’s Trust Board, last Thursday, which is chaired by Deputy Mayor Sarah Russell. Along with colleagues from the public and community sector.
As our financial year came to an end our team gathered for our annual review and reflection on the lessons arising from our work.
Last Thursday, the Community Development Team attended Leicestershire Cares’ Champions Lunch, an event held every six months to strengthen ties between our business partners and staff, share learning on our work, and celebrate our achievements.
On Friday June 24th, the Head of Community Development Neetu Squire, along with volunteers from Walkers Deli & Sausage Co., visited the Wesley Hall Community Centre in Leicester City for a Team Challenge.
The YES Project was delighted to present Tracy Ingram with a Golden Heart Award at our Summer Champion`s lunch held last week.
Leicestershire Cares is delighted to be joined by Josh MacAlister, Chair of the Independent Review of Children's Social Care in England to discuss the findings and recommendations of the Review.
We were delighted to present Tracy Renshaw of Samworth Brothers with our champions champion award at our June champions meeting.
On Sunday June 26th, members of the Community Development Team and a group of volunteers from Freeths Solicitors attended the SOCOPA community group in St Matthews for a Team Challenge.
On Friday 17th June, our Head of Community Development Neetu Squire joined volunteers from the Joules clothing and homeware company in visiting the Woodgate Adventure Playground for a Team Challenge.
On Thursday 16th June, the Community Development Team’s Project Support Officer Edgar Roberts and Head of Community Development Neetu Squire attended the “Lives Not Knives” knife crime awareness workshop at Judgemeadow Community College.
Last Tuesday, the Community Development Team’s Project Support Officer Edgar Roberts and Head of Community Development Neetu Squire visited the Manor House Community Centre in Leicester City for a Team Challenge.
Leicestershire Cares is pleased to see our key policy asks with Learning and Work Institute get national coverage
Neetu our head of community development has been shortlisted as a FINALIST in the Together Award category for BBC Radio Leicester’s inaugural Make a Difference Awards.
Samworth Brothers and Leicestershire Cares have a long, rewarding and very productive partnership. Over the years we worked together on a range of projects that supported community groups, young people and schools.
We were happy to be back at Queensmead Primary Academy today to present the prizes to the Number Partners Maths Challenges winners
The Community Development Team’s Youth Homelessness Development Officer Jess Strutt has been establishing and expanding her “Making Moves” project, providing sessions that support young people facing problems with access to permanent accommodation.
We are delighted to share, that Kieran our CEO , has been appointed to the advisory group of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Commissioner.
We participated in the Leicester Textile and Garment Worker’s Trust research report ‘Fashioning a Beautiful Future’ which is now published online.
It was great catching up with community partners and colleagues from the East Midlands Chambers network at the Shama women’s centre to discuss how we can support local firms to give back to the local community.
Since the start of May this year, the Community Development Team’s new Youth and Community Development Officer Lee Hawthorne has been providing drop-in sessions in Leicester City offering young people with training in barbering and sports coaching.
We took a group of young people on a residential at Hope Valley in The Peak District
Mentorship, the pathway to reducing Crime
Last Thursday, the Community Development Team attended and volunteered to support a celebration event for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at the New Parks Community Centre in Leicester City.
This month, the Community Development Team at Leicestershire Cares began hosting a six-week “Art 4 Mental Wellbeing” course run by local mental health charity Jamila’s Legacy.
Last Sunday, members of the Community Development Team attended Leicester City’s Polish Heritage Day event to learn about and to celebrate Poland’s culture and contributions to UK society.
Last Saturday, members of the Community Development Team attended the “Your Space” event at Moat Community College in Leicester City.
After visiting the wonderful Everards Meadows earlier in the year for a world of work tour, NEET young people from The YES Project visited Everards Logistic Centre, finding out more about the behind the scenes of Everard's operation.
We were delighted that Sir Jonathan North Girls College, who had two girls participate in our Employability programme for young people with visual impairment, recently wrote an article about their experience for their school newsletter
The Independent Review of Children's Social Care in England has today published its final report and recommendations
Bridging the gap between prison and the workplace
Last week the YES project went on a Work Tour to Walker&Son – a Samorth Brothers business that manufactures a national treasure: “The Pork Pie”.
We have had a very busy and productive few months, which has seen us recruit eight new staff to work across our projects.
Our Power to Change project funded by “The National Lottery Community Fund”, aims to encourage business, public sector and community groups to work in partnership with each other and young people.
‘Guess My job’ – Employer engagement activity in schools.
We were delighted to host a visit from economist, political scientist specialising in inequality, broadcaster and co host of the Politics Jam Podcast Jeevun Sandher.
The Community Development Team has had a very successful quarter. We are extending our work uniting business partners and community groups in generating a lasting positive impact on peoples' lives.
Using our Power To Change model our Leaving Care team have been busy to ensure every young person can adapt to issues and become active citizens
In the run-up to Easter Sunday this April, the Community Development Team, with the support of businesses, decided to give something back to local community groups across city and county.
Year 11 students at Keyham Lodge School take part in a successful interview technique event
With a range of remote and face to face events this spring term, our business volunteers have supported just over 8500 students with their interview and employability skills.
Three of our care experienced young people took a trip to the Big Smoke to learn about politics, public affairs and to see Parliament from a new perspective
We want to say a massive thank you to our business members for volunteering at our six-week employability programme GET Ahead.
ExChange: Family and Community is an online “Community of Practice” resource hub that aims to provide resources that can help to support families and communities.
The Community Development Team’s Youth Homelessness Development Officer Jess Strutt visited the Freedom Youth Club in Leicester City to start a weekly drop-in service supporting refugee and asylum-seeking young people
Working in collaboration with The Vision Support Team, Leicester City Council, last month we successfully completed our employability programme for young people with a visual impairment
Last Wednesday, members of the Community Development Team volunteered to visit Lutterworth High School and provide interview technique training to Year 10 pupils.
Members of the Community Development Team paid a visit to the New Parks Community Centre in Leicester City.
The Community Development Teams Golden Heart Winners- Cambridge and County
Leicestershire Cares Teams Champions Champion Tina Siena-Tomlinson -Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Leicestershire County Council Public Health funds specialist support services for those affected by domestic abuse and sexual violence, and has recently undertaken recommissioning of those services ensuring they remain the best response to local need
The Community Development Teams Golden Heart Winners
Our youth team were delighted to present Jennifer Griffiths from Everards Brewery with a Golden Heart at our last champions meeting
Leicestershire Cares Eggstravaganza Campaign 2022
It was great to meet with our business champions to celebrate our work over the last six months and to look at how we can improve how we work together over the coming year.
Congratulations to our education volunteers who won Golden Heart awards at our spring Champions meeting
Staff and young people were delighted to host a meeting with visitors from Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), Seattle, Kings County USA and staff from the VRN and Revolving Doors.
Young people in the youth justice system require access to team building activities
Leicestershire cares is dedicated to helping charities and organisations upskill, and allow them to build their knowledge, so they can provide better service to their participants.
We have been working in partnership with MoneywisePlus , DMU Local and Socialbox Biz to encourage local people and firms to donate old laptops, Tablets and Mobile phones, which are wiped clean, upgraded and passed onto people who need them.
We will be visiting the Houses of Parliament and having a comms planning day with a national policy organisation to help raise awareness of our policy asks
Leicestershire Cares staff, trustees, partners, and young people would like to wish everyone celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day a wonderful time.
Young people who are engaged in meaningful work stand a reduced chance of getting involved in criminal activity
Working in collaboration with Leicester City Council SEND Support Service, we’ve made a great start to our employability programme for visually impaired young people in Leicester
The community development team were delighted to join a night of celebration with aspiring community leaders.
On Tuesday 8th March was International Women's Day, where we celebrated all women. We held an event where we learnt about #BreakingTheBias, gender equality, gender bias and how IWD is celebrated around the world.
With the student theme of this year’s celebration being ‘It’s all about you’, Let’s work together to empower young people to take control, believe in themselves and explore their options.
We partnered with Outspoken to bring together a group of ladies in a safe, inclusive space to feel empowered to speak and share conversations.
Leicestershire Cares is creating a short video on the importance for business members to embrace diversity and develop cultural awareness.
This week our young people on the Yes and Powering up projects embarked on a 12-week journey with TWOTH, a programme of wellbeing
Overview of our Education events, including Speedy Speakers, Interview Technique, Guess My Job, Workplace Behaviours, and CV workshops.
Over the last few years, we have had a fair amount of success, but we recognise that the context in which we operate is forever changing.
On the VIP Project we are working with young people to help them set goals
We have come to the end of the first cohort of our 6-week employability programme, GET AHEAD.
We are looking forward to hosting an online get together of our business champions on March 24th.
The Diversity and Inclusion webinars concluded last week with an inspiring account of Suzan Owera's experiences.
At Leicestershire Cares we are always keen to reflect with our partners on our practice and to seek to use our learning to influence relevant policy debates. So, we were delighted to be able to host a visit from the Centre for Social Justice.
“It takes a village to raise a child”. This phrase highlighting how all of us have a role to play in ensuring that care experienced people can achieve their potential. This article shows a collection of thoughts from the care experienced young people
Leicestershire Cares leaving care work has fed into the Bright lights and warm relationships: SCALING THE IMPACT OF SUPPORT FOR CARE LEAVERS INTO SUSTAINABLE CAREERS report.
Our young people have been helping us recruit new staff for our CYP and CD teams
Leicestershire Cares' Taking Hold of Our Heritage project appears as a case study in the final report.
Young people take part in a Leicestershire Police Drug Awareness workshop
On Care Day 2022, we are celebrating our success so far in our efforts to improve welfare support for care experienced young people
Leicestershire Cares is dedicated to upskilling grassroots charities and helping them build their capacity so that they are not left behind and able to provide better service to their participants.
As a team we welcome the government’s long awaited white paper on “Levelling Up” In the government’s own words “But not everyone shares equally in the UK’s success.
Care Leaver designs and delivers awareness training for Leicester College’s Student Support Team and mentors
As we enter 2022, we can all be proud of the tremendous work we have delivered for young people and communities in danger of being left behind
Cllr Nita Solanki hosted our fifth Diversity and Inclusion webinar for our staff members on 27th January.
The final figures for our #BagsOfHope campaign
Leicestershire Cares is working with three of our care experienced young people, Learning and Work Institute and two other CEYP organisations across England to improve care leavers' experiences of the welfare system
Young people from Leicestershire Cares found out about the ins and outs of daily business at one of Leicestershire historic companies, Everards, while on a World of Work Tour.
The YES Project team continued to support NEET YP in education, employment and training outcomes
Its been a successful quarter for Community Development Team, check out what we have been up too!
A review of Leicestershire Cares Leaving Care work for October to the end of 2021
The Education Team had a packed Autumn term organising and delivering interview technique events, employability events and workshops, and launched a new project for visually impaired young people.
Leicestershire Cares Education team’s new project focusing on employability for visually impaired young people
As we enter 2022, we will be “powering up” our “Power to Change” approach , by appointing staff to work on three new projects.
This page include several UP-Project successes throughout quarter 2.
After over a year of uncertainty in schools and businesses, due to Covid19, the Leicestershire Cares education team are looking forward to relaunching the Go for Reading project to start in the school summer term 2022.
Exploring career opportunities for young people in the leisure and fitness industry at Everyone Active Wigston
Leicestershire Cares has partnered with Equality Action Loughborough to create a Covid-19 Vaccine information podcast in Gujarati for local communities
Our #BagsOfHope campaign has been a much needed and timely response to the latest Covid surge, that has sought to offer support to those in danger of being left behind.
Onn the 10th of November we had the privilege of hosting 10 frontline community groups for our awareness training in modern slavery, human trafficking, and county lines.
Neetu, our Head of Community Development was delighted to attend the annual celebration of diversity across our city, where the special guest was the civil rights legend the Rev Jesse Jackson
It's been a busy term for our Education team delivering a variety of employability events for secondary schools, with support from our volunteers. We held nine events in five schools and colleges, with volunteers attending virtually or in person.
Queensmead Primary Academy wins Number Partners maths challenges for the second year!
Kieran has shared some thoughts and reflections with the staff team.
Kieran our CEO, attended the breakfast launch of the LLEP’s ten year economic growth strategy.
The UP Project have delivered £10 Amazon vouchers to all of their participants currently working with them to wish them a MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
As part of our commitment to building our team and supporting the local community, we took part in a festive challenge at the wonderful Emerald Centre.
Our community development team have been delighted to support Cossington FC, a grassroot community led initiative in Belgrave that seeks to provide young men from a diverse range of background with opportunities to play football on a Sunday
Our community development team were honoured to attend the local Christmas celebration of the Dialogue society.
Leicestershire Cares’ leaving care works features in Esmee’s Learning Programme Insight Report 2021.
Across our city and county, the business community has been stepping up to collect for our #BagsOfHope campaign.
A night of celebration was held to recognise and honour individuals who have made significant contributions to their communities.
Through our engagement with the Review and our work with care experienced young people, we have developed five specific asks that we have submitted to the reviews’ Call for Ideas.
We were delighted to award Jessica Davies from Joules with our Champions' Champion Award in recognition of all her work for us over the last six months
The Unlocking Potential project were delighted to be able to hold their first face-to-face employability workshop post COVID-19, with the support from CPWP Director, Ashley Cowdrey!
We are delighted to be chosen once again to be part of the wonderful Winter Gardens initiative
The Community Development Team at Leicestershire Cares were delighted to present Jackie Penney from Ford and Slater a Golden Heart.
Care experienced young people create a graffiti mural to express themselves with a powerful message. The project supported by Pedestrian and ENGIE
The Community Development Team at Leicestershire Cares was delighted to present Clementine Lomas from Alltruck with a Golden Heart.
At Leicestershire Cares, we are inclusive and celebrate our diverse community’s faith festivals, by reaching out to the communities and making sure nobody is left behind.
Leicestershire Cares presents our work of linking businesses with care experienced young people at the Culture Cares Conference 2021
We were delighted to present Michelle Tong from Hinckley and Rugby Building Society with a Golden Heart certificate today at our Champions meeting.
We were delighted to present Owain Turner with a Golden Heart as a thank you for volunteering as our event photographer at our annual celebration event
As part of our commitment to building partnerships between government, community and business we were delighted to host a seminar on Wednesday 17th November
YES Project team continued to support NEET YP into education, employment and training outcomes
As part of our diversity and inclusion webinars for our staff team to learn about different cultures and values. We were thrilled to have Cheryl Armatrading host the webinar to talk about African Caribbean community.
Interview technique events are an easy way to give back to young people and help them bridge the gap between school and the workplace. Volunteering your time for just one morning can make all the difference to a young person's life.
Leicestershire Cares supports campaign to improve support for young carers across the UK
The Community Development Team have been very busy connecting businesses, communities and local government with a recent visit from our MP Liz Kendall.
Our Education work is off to a great start this term with over 14 secondary schools requesting face to face or remote interview technique events.
On behalf of all our trustees, staff, volunteers, partners and young people we would like to wish all our friends in the community a wonderful and happy Diwali.
Leicestershire Cares celebrated our amazing care experienced young people during National Care Leavers Week 2021 by looking back at 3 years of work funded by Esmee Fairbairn Leaving Care Funding Stream
A review of Leicestershire Cares Leaving Care work for July to September 2021
Our community development team has partnered with Moneywise Plus to offer a “Green” solution to tackling the “Digital Divide”
During National Care Leavers Week 2021, ITV Central visited Leicestershire Cares to speak to our care experienced young people.
Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming YES Employability events
Over the past quarter, the UP Project has seen many successes, from being short listed for an award, lots of participants gaining education, training and employment and the launch of our 'Lives not Knives' animation!
Coproduced toolkit for businesses, local authorities and support organisations to understand the issues facing care experienced young people looking for work.
Excited to announce Hinckley and Rugby Building Society won our Outstanding Contribution to work with NEET Young People award 2021
After the summer break our education volunteers are back in schools once again, inspiring students to reach their career goals and opening their eyes to job roles they may not have thought of
Thermo Fisher Scientific wins Outstanding Contribution to Employability
We were delighted to present Evan Crosskey from Hinckley and Rugby Building Society with our Education Volunteer of the Year 2021 at our awards evening
Joules win Outstanding Contribution to Education award
Hinckley and Rugby Building society win Outstanding Contribution to Interview Technique Award
As part of our commitment to ongoing development and learning, we took time out on Friday to reflect on what we are learning from our efforts to implement our “Power To Change Model”.
We're delighted that our UP Project has been shortlisted for the Youth Justice Award in the CYP Now Awards 2021
Every year around one-third of all Government spending goes on public contracts to the private sector.
We are delighted to announce that following from our annual awards celebration NYLACAST were our winners for outstanding contribution to the community development team 2021.
The Youth Voice Census exists to share the views and experiences of young people aged 14 - 24 across the UK.
Thermo Fisher Scientific win the award at Leicestershire Cares Business Members Awards 2021
The UP Project are delighted to announce that Alltruck were crowned our winner for their outstanding contribution to work with young offenders at our annual celebration event
The Community Development team at Leicestershire Cares funded five diverse communities across Leicester an opportunity for a day trip to Skegness.
We were thrilled to be able to hold our annual award ceremony face to face last week at the stunning Winstanley House.
Kieran our CEO was honoured to be asked to contribute to episode one of this great new podcast series from “Leicester Stories”
We are delighted to announce that following on from our annual awards celebration, Sally Romankiw, of Walkers deli, Samworth Brothers, is our volunteer of the year 2021.
We are delighted to announce that following on from our annual awards ceremony, the Hinckley and Rugby Building Society, are our company of the year.
Leicestershire Cares Taking Hold of Our Heritage book is used as a resource in Zimbabwe Care Leavers Network Advocacy Strategic Planning day
Today we launched our brand new video tackling knife crime in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
We were delighted to win the not for profit sector award at the LLBA21 awards last Thursday. Winning the award was a real boost for all our participants, volunteers, partners and staff.
To kick off Leicestershire Cares Week, we're publishing our end of year report, celebrating the great work of our business members, community partners, schools and of course our team!
We are delighted to announce the shortlist for our Education Volunteer of the Year award at our upcoming annual celebration
We are excited about presenting the Outstanding Contribution to Employability Award at our upcoming awards ceremony. We have nominated four companies who have all worked tirelessly to support our remote events with schools.
We are delighted to announce the shortlist of businesses nominated for their support for our UP Project at the Leicestershire Cares Annual Celebration Event 2021
Leicestershire Cares’ Participation Day empowering our young people to become leaders in their own lives, communities and drive the direction of our work
The YES Team at Leicestershire Cares would like to thank and celebrate the business volunteers who have supported our work to help young people transition into Education, Employment and Training
Summer should be a time of fun and excitement for children, but for many this is not the case.
We have been through some challenging times over the past two years so we would like to celebrate and thank all our business members
Our shortlist for ‘Outstanding contribution to work with Care Experienced Young People’, is created by innovation from our business members in co-production, design, mentoring, networks, conversations and support to boost young people’s self-esteem a
We are excited to have shortlisted 5 businesses who were outstanding in giving their time to help us ensure that students still received a mock interview and feedback last academic school year, despite disruptions to workplaces and schools.
Over the last few months we have been shortlisted for several awards
Rupert Mathews the PCC for LLR visited our office last Thursday to find out more about the work we deliver in partnership with the VRN, PCC, business and community partners to make our communities safer
Leicestershire Cares takes it’s care experienced young people for a day of teambuilding, high ropes and pushing themselves out of their comfort zone
The UP Project 'LIVES NOT KNIVES' animation on 21st September 2021
The summer has been a time of planning, revision and reflection for the Education team. We’ve been planning how we’d like our projects to progress, what has been working well, what we can improve and reflecting on our volunteers’ experiences
Young people supported by Leicestershire Cares help us to recruit our new YES Project Development Officer.
Our leaving care team has been working with our care experienced young people to make sure their views are heard by the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care
As our year end drew to a close the sun also set on our Strava walking challenge
At our recent team meeting we asked all staff to complete the sentence “What I have liked most about working at Leicestershire Cares over the last year"
In 1989, Kieran our CEO, went to Sweden with a group of disabled young people, to see what lessons could be learnt from the Swedish approach to supporting people with disabilities.
Tackling Misinformation Together As Community In Action!
Empowering and Connecting Our Community
The Social Mobility Commission has published it’s State of the Nation report 2021, in which they call for a shake-up of child welfare benefits and significant investment in education to put disadvantaged children and young people at centre stage.
Charlotte, our Head of Children and Young People, was delighted to win the Community Award at the inaugural East Midlands Chambers Generation Next awards.
Wishing all our friends, staff, young people and partners a very happy Eid Ul Adha
Developing peer to peer support to battle poor mental wellbeing and isolation in care experienced young people
How hosting a Meet an Employer Event for care experienced young people can open doors to new networks and knowledge
We’ve developed an info sheet aimed at parents, carers and families, that lists where to go for digital support, training, access to digital devices and useful websites.
Over the last year, our city and county have faced many challenges. In many ways, Covid 19 and the lockdown have exacerbated and shone a light on inequalities that we already knew existed.
For the last in our series of #BBBYouthWelfare webinars run in partnership with De Montfort University and LLR Safeguarding Children Partnerships, we focussed on the implications of the “Levelling up” agenda for local growth and development.
Read Simran`s article on how the impacts of Climate Change falls unfairly across society
Staff got involved in a team litter pick at Nelson Mandela Park
The Education team has a calendar full of remote student events for the remaining school term and continue to plan for the new academic year ahead.
We were delighted to deliver two more successful remote mock interview events recently with year 10 students from English Martyrs Catholic School. This brings the total remote interview technique events delivered by Leicestershire Cares to 23.
Our business volunteers have continued to help students learn about different careers and industries through our employability events
Volunteers and school staff involved in Number Partners (NP) and Go for Reading (GFR) recently joined us remotely to talk about how we can relaunch these projects so that they impact students in the best way possible in the future.
Using our Power to Change Approach, which focuses on building relationships, networks and connections, to help care experienced young people get on in life
An insight into the amazing work being carried out by our Community Development Team
Another positive and useful meeting between The YES Project and the project`s Business Member Steering Group
Leicestershire Cares is saying thank you to all its business volunteers during Volunteers’ Week 2021
We are thrilled to bring diverse community organisations and Leicestershire Cares staff team together on an experiential learning through lived experiences as part of our diversity and inclusion work.
In a special International edition of our #BBBYouthWelfare series, run in partnership with De Montfort University.
In the last of our #BBBYouthWelfare series, we will be discussing “Levelling up”.
To combat the strains of working from home and to maintain levels of teamwork and overall wellbeing, the social committee at Leicestershire Cares have set up a Strava activity challenge for staff
Pupils at The Queensmead Primary Academy were thrilled to receive Maths games kindly donated by Hinckley and Rugby Building society.
At Leicestershire Cares, we are committed to reflecting on our experience and capturing learning to improve our practice
We were delighted to share our reflections on the importance of memory and community for care experienced young people at the APPG evidence session chaired by Daisy Cooper MP
Our remote interview events continue to inspire students and volunteers alike
Bringing people together, creating social connectiveness and developing peer to peer support to battle poor mental wellbeing and isolation in care experienced young people.
As part of the continuing partnership between Leicestershire Cares and the UNAI SDG16 Hub at De Montfort University we are delighted to welcome Rakesh Rajani to give a keynote speech about international perspectives on #BuildBackBetter.
Eid Mubarak to All our friends and followers who celebrate have a lovely day and a peaceful year
Queensmead Primary Academy Number Partners winners
The eighth webinar of our #BBBYouthWelfare series, focused on the needs and experiences of young mothers and their babies throughout the Covid-19 pandemic
Pathways continue to support NEET Young People on the YES Project with another informative session.
Thanks to the support of the Rank foundation we have been able to appoint Zamzam Yusuf as a full time action research officer to look at the needs of African, Afro Caribbean, Asian and East European communities across our city and county.
How our Promise to Care model works to create opportunities for businesses to support care experienced young people
Covid 19 has shone a cruel light on the many issues facing our city and county, but it has also shown that there is spirit and a willingness for people to work together. It might be a cliché, but our strongest asset is our people.
We have been delighted to work with Decentered media on their “A germs journey project”
Since Lockdown began in March 2020 it quickly became obvious that having internet access and the knowledge and means to use it were essential, to ensure families, children and young people were not left behind
An insight into the hard work our Community Development Team have been up to in the first quarter of 2021
Staff from the Community Development and YES Project team celebrated Vaisakhi
The Seventh webinar of our #BBBYouthWelfare series, took place on Wednesday 21st April 2021 and focussed on employment opportunities for young people.
Free Webinar 11th May 2021 1300 to 1400
Using a model of participation and co-production with our care experienced young people, is driving the direction we are going in together.
Students return to school after another period of learning at home
Since the start of the new year, the YES Project has been working hard to support NEET Young People
Care experienced young people being empowered by the feedback their book receiving
The YES Project are tapping into the knowledge and expertise of our business members to develop the project.
Care Leavers creating anti-bullying resources for looked after children, as part of our VRN project, Free From Violence.
We have been reflecting on our practice and learning through the lockdown and developed in partnership with a wide range of our stakeholders our “Power to Change Approach” to working with communities and young people
Nylacast Awarded Leicestershire Cares Golden Heart Awards
We were delighted to see Kieran’s recent article on the care review translated into Welsh by the wonderful ExChange Wales
We were delighted to host the Rt Hon Priti Patel, the Home Secretary at our office last Thursday.
News Article from Ford & Slater - Ford & Slater have been working alongside Leicestershire Cares since 2008.
Live speakers inform students that apprenticeships can be a rich and rewarding career pathway
Year 12 & 13 students at Beauchamp College receive a mock interview and valuable feedback from local employers through the interview technique project
YES Project will be uploading monthly job vacancies for our participants, so keep an eye out!
The Children of Looked After Children - A new book by Dr Louise Roberts
Morningside staff inform students about apprenticeships
Our young people worked together to support New Parks Community Hub by planting flowers and bedding plants.
The UP-Project Case Study: SG joined the UP-Project in November 2020 after being referred by Leicester Youth and Justice.
Spring Champions Lunch - Last Thursday we held our first Champions Lunch event of the year.
Covid-19, like an X-Ray, has revealed the ways in which systems and institutions exclude people, and those people hurt the most. I’ll suggest ways one can build back better by listening to those who have been left out.
How can we #BuildBackBetter employment for young people post-Covid 19?
Pathways to HE delivered another session for our NEET Young People on the different routes into Higher Education.
Together with our young people, business and community partners we celebrated and recognised International Women`s Day 2021.
In our most recent live careers webinar, we were joined by 2 speakers from the law firm, Knights plc.
Celebrate #InternationalWomensDay with us! Join us celebrating women's achievements, calling for gender equality and visioning a future where we #ChooseToChallenge.
Leicestershire Cares is running a competition for secondary students in celebration of Careers Week 2021
Read and download our Taking Hold of Our Heritage book created by care experienced young people
Because these things matter to us all, everyone needs to complete the census. Do not worry, your information is protected by law. That means government officials dealing with payments or services you receive cannot see it.
The Community in Action Podcast brings stories and narratives of our diverse communities in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
The Community Development team gets creative and launches the ‘Bags of Hope’ Appeal for children from all our local communities.
Leicestershire Cares launched a new book, Taking Hold of Our Heritage, created by care experienced young people to celebrate #CareDay21
Kieran attended the virtual farewell speech by Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield.
This book has been created by care experienced young people to tell the stories of their lives. We have a limited number of books to give away
Don't miss the third webinar in our series of Careers talks for secondary schools on Thursday 25th February, 11am -12
The pandemic has caused unemployment rates to rise. Can more investment in a greener economy help us create jobs and save the planet at the same time?
The YES Project have partnered with Pathways to provide advice and guidance on accessing further and higher education to NEET young people
Celebrate Care Day to raise awareness of Children in Care and those with Care Experience, on 19 February, 1pm
We are looking forward to our sixth #BBBYouthWelfare on Tuesday 2nd March 2021 1230 to 1330 which will focus on The Digital Divide: Why we need to support young people now.
Kieran has written an article setting out his thoughts on the upcoming care review and how open minds and a willingness to work in creative and agile partnerships could be key.
We’re running a new series of live Speedy Speaker Careers Webinars for schools and young people
Our YES Project Development Officer, Simran, reviewed this must-read book for those wanting to learn more about the climate crisis and climate justice.
For our latest #BBBYouth Welfare webinar we tackled the issue of county lines.
We were delighted to share our expertise on supporting care leavers into employment at an event with Children and Families Minister, Vicky Ford MP
Leicestershire Cares February 2021 newsletter
Kieran our CEO, has just reviewed this must read book on poverty.
With the start of the new year once more seeing the closure of schools, the education team are working creatively to find new ways that our business volunteers can support students who are learning from home.
Businesses and project participants stepped up in between lockdowns to help support a charity which provides wrapped gifts to over 4000 local children.
During school closures we are delivering a series of speaker webinars to support our partner schools and maintain their links with our member businesses.
Our Business members and partners get creative to support local communities affected by Covid-19
Tackling bullying of looked after children in schools, setting up a mentoring programme for ceyp and succeeding in work placement
Last term, primary school children in Leicester used their maths skills to compete in a fun Number Partners maths challenge. We’re very pleased to announce that Queensmead Primary Academy won the challenge.
The participants have worked extremely hard over the last seven months despite covid-19 to create an animation.
We felt this poem by 22 year old Amanda Gorman recited at Joe Biden’s inauguration offered a vision of everything that is positive about our world and the creativity that comes from our young people.
Improved staff motivation and productivity and an overall sense of employee wellbeing are just a few of the things that employers have noticed when supporting their staff to volunteer.
Despite Covid-19 and interruption to schooling, just over 700 students in Leicester and Leicestershire schools have received a mock interview from a local business volunteer this academic year.
Over the past few years we have published a number of brief articles that we feel might be useful to those overseeing the review.
A new and exciting action research project, which seeks to learn from the rich cultural diversity of Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland.
We're pleased to see a commitment to an ambitious review focused on the experiences of those who are and have been in care
The WIRE Project continues to support ex-offenders and achieve successful outcomes despite lockdown restrictions.
We are excited to launch our new English and Maths provision on the YES Project.
The fifth webinar of the #BBBYouthWelfare series
Leicestershire Cares investigation into care experienced young people’s heritage is being turned into a book.
Download our Christmas Wellbeing poster
Over the last few weeks we have been working with the business and community sector to distribute wellbeing bags to people and families in need , who are in danger of being left behind.
Leicestershire Cares’ Taking Hold of Our Heritage project featured in the newsroom run by young people
A podcast about care experienced life by Leicestershire Care young people
A collaborative effort offering support and accommodation to young offenders in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
The Leicestershire Cares environmental group are sharing tips on how you can have an eco-friendly Christmas this year.
Leicestershire Cares December 2020 newsletter
The UP Project continue to offer support to young people who have and continue to experience difficulties due to their offence history.
Leicestershire Cares is shortlisted in the Leaving Care category in the Children & Young People Now Awards 2020
Office Depot and Leicestershire Cares Community Development Team link with charitable organisations to reach people in need throughout Leicester and Leicestershire.
Businesses are still determined to offer volunteer support despite the many difficulties they have faced this year.
Young relatives of Leicestershire Cares staff design the card for our sponsored #Collect4Christmas packages
We were delighted to win the commitment to people development award at the East Midlands Chambers annual awards 2020.
We are excited to announce that we are one of eight charities chosen to be a part of the 2020 Charity Winter Gardens.
Mum to Be Jade described her gratitude to the UP Project and project manager Siobhan explained the Power of Multi Agency Work
This November the Education team sent out a set of fun maths challenges for their Number Partners project.
The third webinar in the series BBB Youth Welfare webinars that we run in partnership with De Montfort university and LLR safeguarding took place on the 12th November 2020.
The YES Project team have been working hard to support NEET young people throughout the pandemic.
The fourth webinar of the #BBBYouthWelfare series is focusing on how young people’s housing arrangements have been impacted by the pandemic and what we can do about it.
We have been reflecting on our learning over the lockdown period and have come up with a simple framework.
The YES Project delivered an online webinar exploring how volunteering can boost employability skills.
We would like to wish all our friends, partners, staff and volunteers a happy and safe Diwali this weekend.
Leicestershire Cares have been delivering a 4-week virtual Employability programme to help prepare individuals for employment.
Do you or your business have old IT equipment? Read on to find out how your old laptops can be revamped and recycled to support disadvantaged groups across the region to develop their digital skills.
Ensuring nobody is left behind during this second lockdown
A review of Leicestershire Cares activities during #NCLW2020
The second webinar in our #BBBYouth Welfare series took place on Wednesday 28th October.
Care experienced young people will identify their own solutions to avoiding violence and create pathways to recovery and a life free from violence.
The third webinar of our BBB Youth Welfare series will discuss the knife crime context for Leicester on the 12th November 1-2pm
During National Care Leavers Week 2020, Casey was interviewed by Rupal Rajani on the Mid Moring show on BBC Radio Leicester about being a care leaver
Working with local businesses to collect and distribute care packages this Christmas to those affected by the Covid pandemic and most in need.
Celebrating the amazing care experienced young people we work alongside throughout Care Leavers Week 26-30 October
Employers’ views of care experienced people in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
Participants from the WIRE and Leaving Care Projects have been busy assisting at the Aylestone Meadows site.
Volunteer and make a difference with our remote 'Interview Technique' events
Year 11 Students at Lutterworth High School and the Madani Schools Federation were the first to experience a remote way of receiving a mock interview and valuable feedback from a business volunteer in the community.
Leicestershire Cares will be celebrating the amazing care experienced young people we work alongside throughout Care Leavers Week 26-30 October
Care leaver Casey is interviewed by the BBC about her podcast and why it is a great platform to campaign for care leavers issues
Leicestershire Cares and the homelessness project ‘Making Moves’ have been working hard since the announcement of the lockdown on the 20th March.
Our Champion’s Champion award is presented to Sally Romankiw from Samworth Brothers.
School staff were proud to send us pictures of winners, runners up and highly commended students who took part in our career competition during lockdown
Join our webinar at 1pm on 28th October to discuss how we can create better opportunities for care leavers post-Covid19.
Leicestershire Cares is delighted to recognise Keeley Jeffries as our Education Volunteer of the Year 2019-20
We were delighted to be asked by the cabinet office and DCMS to attend and present our thoughts at the Midlands roundtable leg of this series of national workshops.
We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded a grant of £43,000 by the National Lottery Community Fund.
We were very pleased to see the publication of this report which is very much in line with a lot of our thinking and practice during the pandemic.
The Taking Hold of Our Heritage project takes care experienced young people to a wood carving workshop
We were delighted to be asked to share our learning and experience with the Responsible Business Team at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS).
As part of the YES Project, we’re excited to announce a new 6 week employability scheme starting for young people aged 15 – 24 who are not in education, employment or training.
We have been working in partnership with, De Montfort University, and the Leicester, Leicestershire, Rutland Safeguarding Children Partnerships and a wide range of local and national organisations to put together a series of webinars.
We had our very first Champions meeting via Zoom on Wednesday 23rd September
We are delighted to have been shortlisted for the East Midlands Chambers Commitment to people development.
A new survey by the OPCC and VRN exploring what the community feels the priorities are when it comes to community safety.
We are having our first virtual Champions Meeting on the 23rd September.
We are launching a new workshop called ‘Fakeaways’ - making our favourite takeaway foods in a healthier way.
There is a lot of talk in the media about #BuildBackBetter, but what does it mean? What would it look like locally? This webinar will be a chance to hear from Neal Lawson one of its leading architects.
We have been delighted at the coverage our #TogetherWeCare awards have received in the local media.
Leicestershire Cares September 2020 newsletter
This is a great opportunity for local employers to support young people getting into work.
How Leicestershire Cares staff forged the way for Covid Friendly Team Challenge Employee Volunteering
A podcast produced by care experienced young people. This episode is about going to university
Throughout the lockdown we have sought to work in a creative and agile way , adapting our efforts as best we can so nobody is left behind.
On 30 June, Leicester became the first city in the UK to experience a local lockdown. This rapid assessment builds on the findings of our ‘Life Under Lockdown’ report to explore the impact that the local lockdown is having on vulnerable young people
New article by our CEO Kieran Breen on the issues surrounding modern slavery
To inform our future work on knife crime, we set up an independent survey and sent it out our young people and participants to see what their views were on knife related crime.
New report shows many prisoners are released into homelessness
The Domestic Abuse Bill completed its Report Stage and Third Reading on Monday 6th July.