Support into employment for care leavers

St Christopher's profile

Project by St Christopher's

Total raised £1,300

raised so far

+ est. £173.75 Gift Aid

24

supporters

Our aim is to raise £12,500 to enable us to work with 10 more care leavers on the Isle of Man to provide them with support into employment.

We're still collecting donations

On the 27th January 2020 we'd raised £300 with 24 supporters in 111 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.

Welcome to St Christopher's Isle of Man Crowdfunder page. 

We would love to invite you to become a St Christopher's fundraiser and support our work as part of our 150th birthday celebrations.

St Christopher's is a charity set up in 1870 to support children and young people who cannot live with their families. We provide children's homes, supported housing and specialist outreach services across on the Isle of Man, all designed to create brighter futures for young people.

To celebrate 150 years of our charity, we want to raise money to help more young people who grew up in care learn workplace skills and find the right jobs for them.

The right jobs for care leavers

Leaving care refers to when a young person who has grown up in the care system moves onto living independently, sometimes when they are just 16 years old. It is often described by care leavers as like falling off the edge of a cliff. Finding and maintaining a job on top of all the responsibility of adulthood can be overwhelming, especially if this is a young person's first experience of working life.

Sometimes care leavers do not understand the skills and behaviour that is required of them at work, so they experience constant rejection from employers. Other times they can lose their confidence if facing a challenge at work, especially if they do not have a support network around them for reassurance and encouragement. Often care leavers are expected to take the first job available to them, even if they are not equipped with the right experience or knowledge.

We would not expect our own children not to have career dreams, so why do we expect this of care leavers?

Care leavers statistically have poorer outcomes than their peers who are not in care - but St Christopher's wants to change this. Young people in care are bright, funny, passionate and have big dreams, just like any other teenager. We believe all young people, regardless of their previous life experiences, deserve the chance to having fulfilling futures where they can achieve their dreams.

We are giving young people the right skills they need to succeed in the workplace, supporting them to explore job opportunities, and helping them find the right career for them.

What we will do:

We want to support 10 more young care leavers with workplace skills and employment. To enable us to do this, our aim is to raise £12,500 in this area.

And as it's our 150th birthday, we are inviting each of you to raise £150 (or more) towards the overall target. To fundraise for us, please click the blue ‘Start Fundraising’ button. For guidance on how to make your fundraising page and for fundraising ideas, please click here. The funds you raise will go directly into the St Christopher's charity bank account, so there's no admin required by you.

If you are not able to fundraise, donations towards our cause are also very gratefully received and you can also support us by claiming one of our lovely rewards, which you can see on the right of this page.

Your contributions will help us to commemorate 150 years of brighter futures so that we can do even more for care leavers moving onto independence!


St Christopher's approach:

One of our commitments is to inspire lifelong learning and thriving for our young people. When they leave our care, we don't just want them to have the skills to survive - we want them to thrive and enjoy happy, fulfilling lives, including in the workplace.

As care leavers grow up, like all of us, they need support to identify career opportunities, navigate their finances, access work experience and learn workplace etiquette. Often they don't know who to turn to for support and, without the right help in place, they can quickly lose confidence and hope.

Small steps mean a lot. We know that pushing care leavers into work before they have the right skills can knock their confidence, sometimes for years. That's why our scheme does not focus on trying to get everyone a job straight away, but instead looks at helping young people grow their talents, realise their ambitions and raise their aspirations so we can secure the right role for them.

All of this will give care leavers the same opportunities into employment as their peers.


Our Support Into Employment scheme

With your help, we aim to raise £12,500 to give 10 more care leavers on the Isle of Man the opportunity to learn workplace skills and help them to find jobs they enjoy and can sustain.

The activities we will deliver will include:

  • An initial and baseline assessment per young person
  • Setting up tailored employment plans and allocating a support
  • At least one support meeting with each young person a week, lasting up to two hours. During this time they will do problem solving, work towards recognised qualifications, job searches, interview preparation and visit workplaces 
  • Helping young people respond to crisis situations
  • Exploring career aspirations and raising aspirations
  • Helping to identify and access the right progression opportunities, including vocational training, work experience, apprenticeships, shadowing days, volunteering or employment 
  • Referral and advocacy for specialist support where appropriate
  • Employment can consist of semi-paid work trials and placements

What YOUR fundraising can do:

£15 could help us build aspirations, develop confidence and provide a young person with a Support Worker to help guide them on the path to employment.

£50 could buy clothes for care leavers to wear to work.

£100 could enable a young person starting work to buy themselves lunch for the first month. (Young people often struggle to stretch their budget up to their first months’ pay). 

£350 could allow a young person to complete a vocational, work specific training course, such as hairdressing or catering.

Testimonials:

"My key worker helped me create a CV. It showed me everything I am good at and things I hadn't thought of. It was good because it wasn't just him being nice, they were real examples... I like looking at mine and seeing what I have achieved." Evie, young person at St Christopher's

"Over the last year working with St Christopher's I have gained valuable experience in the work environment that I might not have been able to get elsewhere. It's a great opportunity." Daniel, young person at St Christopher's

With YOUR HELP we can support 10 young people to achieve their full potential in their career. 

Please click the 'Start fundraising' button now to create your fundraising page, or alternatively we are very grateful for any donation you can make. 

Thank you!

#SupportIntoEmployment

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Rewards

This project offered rewards

£70 or more

Signed copy of Lemn Sissay's, My Name is Why Book

A signed copy of the number one Sunday Times bestseller - My Name is Why - Lemn Sissay's incredible memoirs! All funds go towards supporting our young care leavers into employment.

£5 or more

St Christopher's 150th Celebratory Pin

Wear your St Christopher's 150th celebratory pin with pride. All funds go towards supporting our young care leavers into employment.

£15 or more

St Christopher's 150th Tote Bag

Celebrate our 150th year in style with one of our celebratory tote bags. All funds go towards supporting our young care leavers into employment.

£20 or more

Your name on our SUPPORTERS OF ST CHRIS webpage

Your name (or business name) on our 150th Anniversary Supporters webpage for the entire 150th year (2020). All funds go towards supporting our young care leavers into employment.

£25 or more

Novelty Celebratory Rubber Duck

A characterful rubber duck to sit on your mantelpiece to celebrate our 150th birthday with. These little fellows previously lived in the St Christopher's headquarters and are looking for a good new home.

£50 or more

Poem Print by St Christopher's Young People

A delightful 'You make our house a home' celebratory St Christopher's print. All funds go towards supporting our young care leavers into employment.

£150 or more

VIP ticket to our 150th Celebration Event

A VIP ticket to our special 150th Celebration Event in a top secret London venue in the summer of 2020.

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