We were delighted to welcome Helen Whately MP to the Leicestershire Cares offices. Helen currently serves as Shadow secretary of state for work and pensions and has been working closely with the CSJ (The Centre for Social Justice) to engage with charities who work with hard-to-reach young people.
Leicestershire Cares is committed to nurturing and amplifying the voices of young people, highlighting their ideas and concerns to key decision makers and bringing about systemic changes that will affect their lives now and in the future.
Helen met with a cross section of our young people including those with SEND, Care Leavers and those involved in the criminal justice system. When asked what had helped them the answers varied from the 1-1 support to help stay in college, help to gain qualifications such as CSCS cards and the importance of making friends and getting out of the house.
Our young people talked about some of the issues they currently face, when accessing the labour market, including lack of confidence, employability skills and the need for support when accessing and starting work.
Amy Cook, Head of Children and Young People projects, discussed with Helen the challenges young people are facing – especially in an ever-isolated world, and why it is important to bring young people together with volunteers from the business sector to share skills and create wider awareness.
It is always testament to a charity when its service users speak to highly of them, with one person referring to Leicestershire Cares as “we” not “they” which truly embeds our ethos of “Together We Can”
Amy Cook, Head of Children and Young People projects - Leicestershire Cares
The CSJ are now busy compiling the footage of the visit and we look forward to sharing this with our networks in the near future.
If you would like to get involved in our youth, campaigns and participation work contact Amy Cook