Dear Friend
Welcome to our latest edition of the Staf newsletter, and if this is the first time you’ve received our email, then hello and thank you for signing up!
It’s been another tremendously jam-packed month here at Staf. Our focus groups and forums continue to be well attended and our Throughcare and Aftercare Workforce Lead Chris ensures the feedback from these meetings is passed on and included in our Policy and Practice briefings issued to all MSPs on a quarterly basis.
We have some one off events coming up soon, including the launch of our Local House Project evaluation at the National House Project webinar for Local Authority workers next Tuesday and our Building Bridges in-person event on the 29th November where you have the opportunity to hear from care experienced people from England and Scotland about what they have learned from each other and what their policy asks are. Please encourage any care leavers you support to come along.
I’m delighted to share that our National Conference is now sold out. Thank you to those who were quick off the mark and snapped up those tickets, we think it’s been the fastest selling Conference ever! If you’ve not yet signed up, we do have a waiting list. Please email bookings@staf.scot. We will also shortly be announcing the date for our Staf Summit for senior leaders which we also expect to be popular. It’s great to see such an appetite to be back in person again.
This month we have launched our Home and Belonging evaluation report which we carried out in conjunction with Children in Scotland and was coproduced by young people with lived experience of care. You can find out more about the key findings and access the full report in my latest blog.
As you will no doubt be aware, this week we have all been marking Care Experienced Week. It’s been wonderful to see so many of our member organisations putting on great events and publicly celebrating the care experienced people in their lives. I would personally like to take this opportunity to thank the many care experienced people involved with Staf, be that on our Board, advisory groups and steering groups and everyone who helps shape what we do and ensure that care leaver voice is at the heart of our organisation.
If you would like to be part of our community, then we have many opportunities to get involved. Youth Just Us are looking for new care and justice experienced members, read Kev’s blog here to find out what the impact of being part of Youth Just Us has had on him. The Care Leavers Forum and The Real Toolkit Advisory Group are also both keen to add new faces to their teams and The National Leadership Network, of which we are lead partner, will soon be hosting an event to promote opportunities for the care experienced community.
We are also recruiting for a Youth Participation Worker to expand on the work of Youth Just Us. You can find out more about the role and how to apply here. The deadline for applications is Friday 11th November.
Finally, we have some sad news to share. After five and a half years with Staf, our brilliant Operations Manager, Sandra Veitch, will be leaving us for pastures new. Sandra has been a pivotal member of the team and will be missed greatly. Thank you Sandra for your dedication, commitment and excellent excel skills! News about her replacement will be shared in due course.
Thank you, as always, for your time and support.
Best wishes,
Jo Derrick
Staf CEO | | | | | |
Youth Just Us - Care and Justice Experienced Steering Group
Youth Just Us are currently seeking new members. Info sessions are taking place at Staf so young people and workers can find out more about the project, as well as trying out some fun creative activities. Get in touch with ruth@staf.scot for more information or to discuss. Please share this flyer with anyone you think might be interested in joining Youth Just Us. We’re recruiting for a full time Youth Justice Participation Worker to join our dynamic team! The right candidate will expand Youth Justice Voices into a national network, with a specific focus on establishing youth-led steering groups beyond Scotland’s central belt. Please apply by completing the Application Form as fully as possible and emailing it to hr@staf.scot by 5pm on Friday, November 11. Participation Consultant, Kevin Lafferty has written an article for Who Cares? Scotland's Speak Out magazine which you can read here. Ruth Kerracher and Julia Swann (CYCJ) spoke at the University of Strathclyde’s ‘Nothing About Us, Without Us: Amplifying Children's Voice in Change’, about the importance of meaningful participation with reference to the work of Youth Justice Voices and CYCJ and Staf’s work more widely. Youth Just Us have also contributed to the Scottish Prison Service’s (SPS) young people’s mental health in custody working group, the SPS Corporate parenting working group and partners.
Inside Out - Care experienced steering group at HMPYOI Polmont
You can keep up to date with the work of Youth Just Us and Inside Out via our Twitter account @YJVScotland | | | | Care Leavers Forum
Members of the forum attended the Cross Party Group on Care Leavers meeting this week which continues to be led by their policy priorties of finance, education and stigma. The forum are involved in the Building Bridges work with the Care Leavers Association and IFCO. To find out how to attend their event on the afternoon of the 29th November, please click here.
Get in touch with katrina@staf.scot if you'd like to get involved and influence change for care leavers! | | | | The Real Toolkit
This week we shared the exciting and importance new change to the Real Toolkit. Thanks to feedback from care experienced users of the site and our advisory group the Young People section has been changed to 'People with Care Experience' to reflect the fact that the guides are relevant to all those with care experience, not just of a certain age.
Project Development Worker, Katrina, has written a blog about the changes and why they are so important.
Check out this month's featured guide on Knowing How to Access Financial Support.
You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram to keep up with our progress. | | | | National Leadership Network (NLN) which Staf are lead hosts of alongside our partners at CYCJ, Columba 1400, Resilience Learning Partnership and Who Cares? Scotland.
Gary Brown, NLN Development Co-ordinator, shares the latest update Interim Oversight Board: Members of the NLN Interim Oversight Board have done an amazing job so far taking the lead on the interview process for the NLN Steering Group which has been taking place during October. They have led the shortlisting and group interview processes and will be deciding on next steps. Steering Group recruitment: The current Steering Group members have played an integral role in the promo and planning for the current Steering Group recruitment process. They produced a recruitment video, advised on language used in communications and how the recruitment poster should look. Young people on the current Steering Group are planning on delivering a virtual event proposed for the 30th of November. The aim of this would be for projects to share any leadership opportunities and experiences they have including paid/voluntary work. More information on this event will be promoted on all social media channels in due course. Thank you: We received a huge amount of interest in the Steering Group jobs. We would like to say a massive thank you to all the individuals, projects and organisations who helped with that. So many people liked, tweeted, retweeted, posted, emailed, shared, and talked about this opportunity. We are very aware of the power of partnership working and we will always try to make sure we do the same for everyone in the care experience community and beyond. Communications: The NLN will soon be launching a YouTube channel and WordPress site. These will initially be used for blogs by young people who are working with the NLN sharing their thoughts on the work they have done and how that has felt. Various friends of the NLN are also doing blogs on the theme of ‘leadership’. We don’t want to give too much away but look out for some really interesting thoughts on imposter syndrome, burnout, learning from mistakes and sustaining hope. If you would like to write a blog or record a vlog on the theme of leadership then please get in touch with us, we would really love to hear from you. Engagement: We are always keen to share other people’s leadership opportunities and experiences. We have many friends, allies and supporters and we are keen to support everyone if we can. We have a growing email distribution list of people with care experience. If you have any opportunities and you think we can help spread the word, please get in touch. Only recently we received a lovely email from a young person saying they had got a job that they heard about via the NLN. Life Changes Trust Legacy Projects: The NLN is one of four Life Changes Trust (LCT) legacy projects. All projects have a different focus but are beginning to work collectively, staying true to Life Changes Trust values. The projects are Care and Creativity (contact jon@moniackmhor.org.uk), Digital Skills (contact peter@ymcascotland.org), Learning Channel (contact dawn@staf.scot). Learning Resource: The NLN has been working in partnership with CELCIS to produce a learning resource which has a focus on engagement/relationship-based practice. This resource features NLN staff and a young person working with the NLN. More information to follow in due course. Christmas Quiz: After the success of the NLN Virtual Quiz a Christmas quiz has been pencilled in for Wednesday 16th of December from 6.30-8pm. More information to follow. Social Media: remember you can keep up to date with what the NLN is doing via Twitter - @ypceleadership, Facebook - National Leadership Network – YPCE and Instagram – nationalleadership
This is a snapshot of some of the work the NLN is doing just now. For more information, please contact gary@thenln.org | | | | |
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