National Network for the Education of Care Leavers
This organisation is based in London but works across the UK. It supports professionals working with children in care and with care leavers, to encourage and enable them to achieve their full potential and achieve better educational outcomes. It began as a volunteer network of educational practitioners and care system professionals and have been running since 2013. There are currently over 100 active members – such as universities, colleges, foster agencies, local authority care teams, and charities, and through them the charity reaches around 800 professionals.
In October 2024, the Allen Lane Foundation agreed a grant of £11,000 as a contribution towards costs of a pilot project. ‘Influencing the Influencer’ is designed as an early intervention scheme aiming to involve trusted adults being proactive in encouraging those in care to consider further education, college or university. The project will involve training and workshops with teachers, social workers and youth club leaders and others, on post-16 education pathways. It will result in a suite of tools aiming to produce better outcomes for the education of looked after children, empowering them, their caregivers and community influencers, and giving them all the confidence and language to discuss the benefits of post-16 education.
