Care Leavers Association UK

12/10/2026

Thriving, not just surviving.💙

A new chapter is coming at the Care Leavers Association, and we want you to be part of it.

Our Connected Project has now come to an end, but the community we’ve built together is still very much active.

To everyone who joined our Zooms, wrote for Connected magazine, came to our in-person gatherings, or helped someone feel welcome, thank you. Over the last three years, you’ve helped build a community where care-experienced adults can connect, share their voices and feel they belong.

Now we’re turning our focus towards our upcoming health project, Thrive for Life, which will be starting in the new year.

We’re hoping to recruit people to get involved, and more information will follow over the coming months.

We want to start a conversation about what being well means to care-experienced adults, what gets in the way, and what would help us thrive. Your experiences, ideas and voices will help shape that conversation, with lots more opportunities to get involved.

A huge thank you to The National Lottery Community Fund for supporting both Connected and this next chapter.

👀 We’re still shaping the project, so there’s more to come. If you’d like to find out more or get involved, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch at:

📧 [email protected]

09/10/2026

💙 KINSHIP CARE WEEK 💛

One phone call can change a family’s life.

Grandparents, siblings, relatives and friends become kinship carers, often with little time to prepare, giving children love, stability and connection to their families and roots.

At The Care Leavers Association, we’re celebrating every kinship family, including care-experienced adults who become carers themselves. 💙

A huge thank you to the charity Kinship for standing alongside families and fighting for better services, fairer financial support and paid leave through . 🙌

This year’s allowance pilot for eligible carers in seven English council areas is a step forward. Kinship continues pushing for support to reach more families.

🎥 Their Unplanned, Unprepared, Unwavering photography series shares real families’ stories, showing both the love and the challenges of kinship care.

"Watch the short film" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCeD-XYrgbA) and "explore the stories and find support" (https://kinship.org.uk/get-involved/kinship-care-week/kinship-care-week-2026/).

To every kinship carer: thank you. You deserve care and support too.

Please share to help more families find that support. 💙💛

05/10/2026

Join Jim (Chair of the CLA) on Wednesday 7th October between 8-10pm where you can have a general chat and connect with other care experienced people of all ages. Jim will also be giving some updates about the CLA and our upcoming project. This is a safe space for care leavers who want to connect with others and discuss things that are important to them.

Sign up here:

https://www.careleavers.com/webinar-contact/

02/10/2026

Black history includes the history of people who grew up in care. Those stories deserve to be seen, heard and remembered. 📚

As Black History Month begins, The Care Leavers Association is marking this year’s theme, “Honouring Our Communities”, by celebrating Black care-experienced voices, histories and contributions.

We’re proud to spotlight The Black Care Experience: Our History, No Longer Hidden, the new book by Judith AM Denton.

Tracing a journey from the 1950s to today, it explores the history of Black children in care, the campaigning of Black care-experienced people and the work of those who fought for dignity, recognition and connection to cultural heritage.

Honouring our communities means listening to their experiences, recognising their achievements and putting their knowledge into practice. Culture, identity, heritage and belonging must be recognised throughout care and into adulthood.

We encourage practitioners, carers, advocates and everyone interested in improving care to buy a copy, share it and make space for these conversations.

Black care-experienced people’s histories deserve recognition. Their expertise deserves action, this October and throughout the year.

📖 "Find out more and order your copy" (https://www.theblackcareexperience.co.uk/handbooks/p/the-black-care-experience-our-history-no-longer-hidden)

28/09/2026

📢 We’re proud to have supported this important research with UCL and to have worked alongside care-experienced volunteers who generously shared their time, experiences and expertise.

The findings highlight something many care leavers have been telling us for years: the impact of care does not end at 18, 21 or even 25. Relationships, community, understanding and ongoing support continue to matter throughout adulthood.

Through this research, care-experienced people shared powerful insights into mental health, wellbeing, identity, belonging and the importance of being listened to. Their voices have helped shape recommendations for improving support and ensuring services better understand the lifelong impact of care experiences.

A huge thank you to everyone who took part, completed surveys, attended forums, shared their stories and helped make this work possible. The project engaged hundreds of care leavers of all ages, helping to address a significant gap in understanding the experiences of adult care leavers.

Most importantly, this research reminds us that support shouldn’t be defined by age thresholds alone. Care-experienced adults need connection, community and opportunities to access support when life happens, not just when policy says they qualify.

An intersectional approach to care-experienced people's perceptions of caregiving and mental health outcomes.

19/09/2026

🥊💙 LET’S GET BEHIND DAVE!

We’re really grateful to Mr Dave Allott, who is care experienced himself and has chosen to raise money for The Care Leavers Association by stepping into the ring at a charity boxing event in Manchester.

Every penny he raises will help us continue supporting care experienced people of all ages through advocacy, connection, practical support and community.

If you can donate, please do. If you can’t, sharing the fundraiser helps massively too. ❤️

And if boxing is your thing, you can support Dave in person as well! The event takes place in Manchester on 19 December 2026, and tickets are available here:

🎟️ https://tickitup.co/uk/events/uwcb-manchester-19-12-2026/

We’re hoping to get some CLA representatives there too, so it would be brilliant to see some familiar faces in the crowd cheering Dave on. 🥊🙌

❤️ Donate to Dave’s fundraiser:
https://givestar.io/gs/v79v7qw?userId=2a2a3234-effe-472f-ae3e-aba2e6d39922&activationCode=960d87c2-5d11-4b67-b553-4d28bda2dd8e

Whether you donate, share or come along and support him on the night, it all helps us 💙

17/09/2026

⚡ Another big thank you to Community Energy Pathways for sharing more practical resources and life skills guidance with us.

Did you know about the Priority Services Register?

Honestly, many people do not. It is one of those things you might only discover when something goes wrong, despite the fact it could provide valuable extra support during a power cut or interruption to your water supply.

The Priority Services Register is free, and signing up can take around five minutes.

You may be eligible if you:

✔ Experience anxiety or depression
✔ Have another mental health condition
✔ Have children under five
✔ Experience language barriers
✔ Temporarily need some extra support

These things are not always explained or taught to us. There is no shame in not knowing what support exists, especially when nobody has ever told you about it.

Life skills and knowledge can be gained at any age. That is exactly why we want to keep sharing resources like this.

You can check whether you are eligible and sign up at:

🌐 www.thepsr.co.uk

If you have any questions, would like more life skills guidance, or have a topic you think we should cover, please contact Care Leavers Connected:

📧 [email protected]

And please share this. Somebody you know may be eligible without realising it. 💙

17/09/2026

💧 Nobody can know what they have never been taught.

A big thank you to Community Energy Pathways for providing us with more practical life skills guidance to share with our care experienced community.

When we talk about life skills, it can sometimes feel as though everyone else already knows this stuff and we are the only ones who do not. But many of us were simply never taught.

Some care experienced people were expected to step into adulthood and somehow already understand bills, energy, water, budgeting and running a home, without anybody taking the time to show us.

And this is not only a care experience thing. Plenty of adults have never been taught about saving water, how much they use, or why it matters.

There is absolutely no shame in not knowing something. Life skills can be learned at any age, and we are all still learning.

Here are a few simple water saving tips:

🚿 Taking just one minute off your shower can save up to 15 litres of water.

🧺 Wait until you have a full load before using your washing machine or dishwasher, and use the eco setting where possible.

🚰 Tap aerators and low flow shower heads can reduce the amount of water you use without making much difference to the pressure.

🥣 Collect clean water in a bowl or container and reuse it for rinsing or watering plants.

🌧️ Use a watering can and water butt instead of a hose where you can.

🔍 Keep an eye out for leaking taps and toilets. Your water supplier may also be able to help with repairs or water saving equipment.

Heating water can account for up to 18% of an energy bill, so saving water can help reduce energy costs too.

Small changes might not solve everything, but when money is tight, every litre and every pound matters.

If you would like more practical life skills guidance, want to hear about future sessions, or have something you were never taught and would like us to cover, contact Care Leavers Connected:

📧 [email protected]

There are no silly questions here. 💙