Introducing Victoria Odude, Communication and Engagement Officer

My career background has been in roles supporting care leavers and care experienced young people. I have a passion for empowering care experienced young people to have a voice, share views and experiences to make a positive change and share best practices.

I am also part of the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum as the Young People Benchmarking Forum (YPBMF) and steering group representative. The YPBMF is the heart of the forum. The main aim is to ensure that the voices of care experienced young people are heard loud and clear, as well as to help shape the decisions and priorities of the forum.

Being care experienced myself, I know the challenges of transitioning from living in care to independent living. Challenges varying from; finances, loneliness/isolation, healthy eating/cooking, emotional wellbeing and mental health, employment, education and training, healthy relationships and having a support network around you.

Shared Lives Plus has received two years of funding from The Rayne Foundation and The Segelman Trust.

The aims of the care leavers programme are to support local authorities and local partners in the NHS, voluntary and community sector and housing to develop Shared Lives for care experienced young people with a learning disability or mental ill-health, enabling us to deliver this programme at scale.

Our work with survivors of trauma and those with adverse childhood experience has shaped our approach in developing the Shared Lives model for care leavers and young people will be supported in a way which respects and supports their experience of being in care.

Whilst working on the programme, I will be conducting focus groups with carers, young people supported and scheme workers from Shared Lives. The aim is for those involved to come together to share achievements, best practices, challenges and barriers. Also discussing training, guidance, evaluations and monitoring and more.

In addition to this, I plan to go out and visit schemes and interview scheme workers, carers and the young people supported to learn more about what it is like living in a Shared Lives arrangement, supporting a young person, daily life, recruitment, training and support. The video interviews will be posted to our website and social media.

I am excited to be working on the care leavers programme and looking forward to its development.

If you work with care experienced young people and would like to find out more about how Shared Lives can improve transitioning from leaving care to independence, email victoria.odude@sharedlivesplus.org.uk