At this time of year our thoughts are with those not as lucky as ourselves and as in previous years throughout December we’re supporting a very disadvantaged and vulnerable group of young people locally – The Care Leavers.
Leaving home is a challenging time for all young people, whatever their circumstances. For care leavers, without the help of a supportive family network to draw on, “challenging” is not strong enough. It is a precarious period when their future can hang in the balance.
In Falkirk there are currently 119 young people in this situation and 45 of them are living independently – this means that they have little or no family support network.
- The Leaving Care team provide “advice guidance and assistance” to young people who are or have been looked after.
- The majority of young people in Scotland still leave care at age 16 which is ten years younger than their peers.
- They are often ill prepared to live independently and have little or no supportive family they can rely on.
- Their past life experiences of separation from birth parents, abuse, neglect and bereavement mean they struggle to manage.
- Interrupted schooling and low self-esteem mean they are often unemployed and live in poverty.
- Often their aftercare worker is the one person they have a close trusting relationship with.
The team try to collect donations at this time and make up gift bags to ensure that they at least have something to open on Christmas Day and know that someone cares.
We hoping to purchase some gift cards for them and are also collecting toiletries, sweets and gifts. If you’re in the office you can buy a raffle ticket or scratch card for this cause. If you’ve any unwanted gifts or toiletries we’ll take them too.
Thank you in advance for helping us help some others!