The 1st August 2023 marks the date of the increase to the Apprenticeship Care Leavers’ Bursary, from £1000 to £3,000. Therefore, it was fitting that this was also chosen as the day that Amazing Apprenticeships hosted the first meeting of the Moving On Up Network.
More than 100 audience members benefitted from a packed agenda that included a special welcome message from Apprenticeships and Skills Minister, Robert Halfon. In his message, Minister Halfon set out the Government’s ambition to do more to support care leavers, stating “By investing in care experienced individuals, and offering meaningful opportunities, we can transform lives whilst tapping into a wealth of talent and potential.”
The full welcome message can be viewed here.
We then heard from Paul Russell, Post-16 Disadvantage and Apprenticeships Social Mobility Manager with the Department for Education, who set out some of the initiatives and support that the DfE offer, including the Care Leaver Covenant, providing £24m funding to Virtual Schools to fund support for care leavers – which now includes apprentices, consulting on the idea of expanding the post-16 Virtual School Head role to include care leavers up to the age of 25 and introducing a new accreditation scheme for education providers to recognise that they are supportive of care leavers.
The apprentice session followed, with members of the Care X network sharing their stories with the audience. The session was expertly chaired by Billie Jo with panel members Toni and JJ. This insightful and though-provoking session really uncovered some of the issues and challenges that can be faced by care experienced individuals in accessing apprenticeships, but also identified some excellent ideas for simple changes and adaptations that can make a huge difference. It was a masterclass for everyone!
In the employer panel, we were joined by Lucy Hunte of the NHS, Alex Perkins of Amazon and Caitlin Cairns of the John Lewis Partnership. Through this session we heard about some of the initiatives that these organisations have implemented and the benefits that they are seeing across their organisation by providing a clear focus on creating opportunities for care experienced individuals.
To wrap things up, Anna Morrison shared some new resources with the group – including a new flowchart for apprentices to help them to check their eligibility and understand the claim process. All resources can be accessed on this page.
“It was an incredible first meeting and we’re really pleased with the turn out. The members were really engaged and had lots of questions for our speakers. We’re off to a great start and looking forward to our next meeting in October, where we will also be joined by Mark Riddell, the National Implementation Adviser for Care Leavers” Anna Morrison
You can catch up on the recording of the meeting, the slides, the films and links to all of the resources by visiting this page: https://amazingapprenticeships.com/moving-on-up/
Are you interested in joining the network?
The Network now has nearly 300 members from across the sector and continues to grow each day. If you are interested in expanding your knowledge and awareness of the challenges facing care experienced individuals in accessing apprenticeships, and in joining a supportive and collaboration – why not join us?