7 Claire Price explained CYA’s role. “These young people lack confidence in themselves. Our job is to boost that confidence, build their self-esteem and give them belief that they can do whatever they want. “They’ve also been thrown statistics at them all the time: ‘only X percent of care leavers will pass their GCSEs’; ‘only so many will go to university’; ‘so many young care leavers won’t get jobs’. And I hate those statistics because we need to break away from that and turn it on its head and go, ‘you can do this, you can do that. You are much more resilient than any other young person in society’. And use that resilience to build their confidence and self-esteem.” Support towards independent living “I’ve been in the real world since I was about 10,” says Carlianne, now 21. “I lost count of how many social workers I had during the eight years I was in the care system.” Carlianne has been supported through both strands of the Brighter Futures programme. Cumbria Youth Alliance helped her build confidence and resilience, while Inspira have organised a series of work experience placements. “My mind was set on catering, that was all I wanted to do. But work experience has opened more things up to me, different things. “I’ve managed to get a train to Carlisle by myself. I also went to work experience in Drigg, at Nuclear Waste Services. “I wouldn’t have done all of these things without the support I’ve had.” Claire Price, of CYA, said: “The progress Carlianne has made is exponential. She’s matured so much, and made so much progress on independent living, running her own flat now.” Carlianne, supported by the Brighter Futures programme FUNDER SPOTLIGHT Brighter Futures is part of the national Care Leavers Programme, managed by UK Community Foundations, a £3.6m match fund scheme funded by the Local Authorities’ Mutual Investment Trust (LAMIT), a shareholder of the UK’s biggest charities asset manager, CCLA. Match funding has been provided by a number of charitable trusts, companies and private donors, including BAE Systems, Francis Scott Trust and John Laing Charitable Trust. We are currently seeking partners to extend the programme to five years and support more young people across Cumbria. We would welcome discussions with anyone able to offer support.
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