True Diversity: Collaborating with the Care Leaver Covenant

During our Diversity Consultancy conversations with clients and also at events, we notice that the thoughts tend to quickly jump to the “gender pay gap” and gender balance within businesses. But there is so much more to achieving and contributing towards true team diversity within your business, as well as within our region.

We’d like to feature some of the local organisations that we work with to help businesses and clients build inclusive teams. First up, we’d like to shine a spotlight on the Care Leaver Covenant.

Who they are and what they do

Simply put, and in a nutshell, the Care Leaver Covenant is a promise made by private, public or voluntary organisations to provide support for care leavers aged 16-25 to help them to live independently.

When we caught up with Kirsty McQueen, Senior Engagement Advisor at the Covenant, she shared some background information that the Government published: ‘Keep on Caring’ to support young people from care to independence. A key policy commitment in the paper is a strategic pledge to introduce a Care Leaver Covenant.

Why it matters

All young people who leave care at 16, 17 or 18 are provided with statutory support which includes, for example, help in the transition to living independently; support with finding accommodation and with any costs of participating in education, training and employment.

However, in order to provide a greater level of support at this crucial stage during the transition of care leavers to adulthood, wider society also needs to play a part, which is where the Care Leaver Covenant comes in.

How we got involved
It seemed an obvious one for us to share our knowledge and insights to support the people they work with into employment and to help them further their career. We are one of their signatories, offering Creative, Data, Marketing and Technology Career Workshops where participants can find out more about career paths within the sectors we operate, as well as routes in. We also offer practical help with CVs and are on hand during the sessions to answer all the career-related questions they may bring.

How you can get involved as a business or potential employer
Just like us, you could think about how your business can craft an offering to support the Care Leaver Covenant on their mission and you may even be able to offer Apprenticeships specifically, working with the team there to shape the offering so it ties in and is of real value to the young people.