Dear Friend,

This month’s newsletter is being dedicated to our Head of Learning and Development, Pamela Graham, who, after almost 15 years with Staf is moving on to pastures new. Pamela has made an immense impact on the lives of care leavers in Scotland both indirectly through supporting the workforce but also directly with the many brilliant, transformative projects she has lead over the years.

We will of course be marking Pamela’s departure and would like to invite all of you who know her to join us for a cuppa and an online ‘All the Best’ on Thursday 9th December at 2pm. We’d love to see as many of you there as possible so please do email sandra@staf.scot to register and she’ll send you the joining details. We’d also love your contributions to a digital memory book which you can add to here. You can leave a message, share a photo or even upload a video. If you are submitting a video please also send this to marion@staf.scot as we are hoping to collate some of these to show on the 9th.

We will shortly be announcing an exciting new vacancy at Staf as we look to continue Pamela’s brilliant work. More information on that to follow. We are currently looking for a Board Treasurer, so if you have financial skills and a passion to support care leavers and the workforce, we’d love to hear from you. You can find out more here.

One of Pamela’s last contributions will be facilitating our National Conference on the 1st December where we will hear from representatives from a variety of organisations including CELCIS, NAFP, Each and Every Child, Life Changes Trust, The Lines Between, Staf, East Renfrewshire Council and the Scottish Government as we discuss relationships, rights and keeping The Promise. There’s still time to join them and us. Sign up here.

In addition to the conference our Supported Lodgings, Supported Carers and Implications of Continuing Care focus groups are taking place next month and we’d love to see you there. We will be shortly announcing our full calendar of 2022 events including our regular focus groups, the Staf Summit and some exciting webinars which will all ensure you are kept fully up to date with the latest policy developments, enable peer networking and sharing of best practice. Full details will be revealed in our December newsletter.

Our project leads have been very busy once again, predominantly looking after the many submissions we have received for our Young Funder’s Grant, which closes on Tuesday 30th November. The response has been overwhelming, and is a clear indicator of the ongoing and challenging situations many care-experienced young people find themselves in, with many applications being for basic support that many of us take for granted.

Finally, I’d just like to personally thank Pamela for her dedication to Staf over the last 15 years, and particularly over the last 18 months when everyone’s lives were turned upside down. Her calm and steady hand has helped us to survive that journey and ensure that our drive to improve the outcomes for care leavers will continue unabated. Thank you.

Best wishes,

Jo Derrick

Staf CEO 

It's been another busy month for Youth Justice Voices: 

· Ruth met with colleagues from the Scottish Police Authority to discuss the work of Youth Justice Voices.

· Ruth and colleagues from CYCJ delivered a workshop at the World Congress on Justice ‘Putting Us’ into Justice through which we celebrated learning from the work of Youth Justice Voices which was shared from delegates across the globe.

· Ruth will be sharing the work of Youth Justice Voices and the importance of relationships at the Staf National Conference next week. 

· Ruth and members of Youth Just Us and Inside Out are contributing to course content for Strathclyde/ CYCJ Postgraduate Certificate on Children in conflict with the law

· Youth Just Us are continuing to meet on a weekly basis. We are making plans for our Christmas celebration gathering later this month. As well as planning for our next Police Scotland workshop on the 6th. Members also shared their views on Climate Justice and participated in a workshop with Children’s 1st around the role of the Safeguarder in the Children’s Hearing System.

· Youth Just Us members have also been helping shape CYCJ’s website so there is a dedicated child friendly space. We can’t wait to see this launch.

· Youth Just Us members are also continuing to put the Us into Justice as we have young people joining the Children’s Rights Implementation Group and the Age of Criminal Responsibility working group. Both groups will work to ensure that the Scottish Government’s Youth Justice Vision and Action Plan is fulfilled

· Inside Out are continually to meet on a weekly basis in HMP&YOI Polmont they are currently working on their first newsletter for young people in Polmont and have designed their logo, as you can see in the banner above.

Youth Just Us is always open to new members. If you’re aged 16-25 with experience of the care and justice systems in Scotland and want to help influence change then why not get in touch with ruth@staf.scot? Location shouldn’t be a barrier as you can join us on Zoom.

Project Return are currently sorting through the Young Funders Applications, lots of which have been received! These were grants, designed and distributed by young people, to be given to care-experienced young people to allow them to pursue new passions and hobbies. 

You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram to keep up with our progress. 

Scottish Care Leavers Forum Steering Group 

If you know of any young people with care experience who would like to be involved please email katrina@staf.scot 

Bail and Release From Custody Arrangements: Deadline 7 Feb 2022