National Care Leavers Week 2024

This week we celebrate National Care Leavers Week (Monday 28 October to Sunday 3 November), and this year, the theme voted for by young people, is ‘All of us. We are one.‘ – reflecting what care leavers in England have said about how they feel when they spend time with other care leavers – people with a similar experience who understand what it’s like to have been in care and who are care leavers.

Devon County Council currently has 9 care experienced young people in an apprenticeship role. We asked a few of these apprentices to share their experience so far with us. 

Firstly, we asked one of our newest apprentices who started in September how they have found their first month at the Council.

"I would say I have had a good time, and I haven't been bombarded by information but am still doing work that is relevant and prepares me for the more in-depth work later"

We then asked two apprentices who are nearing the end of their apprenticeships with the Council. 

Our first apprentice has this to say:

“My apprenticeship as a Care Leaver working for DCC has been one of the best decisions I have made, the Team I work with are so understanding and great to work with and really get my experiences and support me in any way they can. The onboarding process went great they were flexible for what worked for me I opted to do my interview online. I know my Team are always there whenever I need anything and always happy to talk if I ever have any problems, they are also really flexible whenever I have any appointments such as seeing my PA or medical appointments - Overall I would really recommend anyone that would be interested in working for Devon reaches out and goes for it as you won’t regret it, and the pay isn't half bad either!” 

The second had this to say:

“I had applied for this apprenticeship at first in 2018 but had been unsuccessful in this interview(although informed I had done really well in this interview). My manager had reached back out to me in 2021, to say that this apprenticeship was available again and asked if I wanted to apply for this. I was successful in my interview, and I became an apprentice in my team.

 

I applied as I was looking to try something new. In regard to my previous looked after status, I knew that I wanted a career that was rewarding, and that I was able to make positive changes to other families. As soon as I had received the job advert, I knew that this is what I wanted to do.

 

I had the support of my lovely team and manager, who were very supportive during my apprenticeship. I had also received lots of support from South Devon college and the Devon County Council Apprenticeship Team, who were able to support with regular check in’s and provide further support where this was needed.

 

I would absolutely recommend this pathway for care experienced individuals. Attending university full time was not an option for me, as I was living independently, so this apprenticeship enabled me to be able to learn and work at the same time. This apprenticeship has allowed me to develop skills and knowledge within my current job role. "

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