Hard work from the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Reach Leaving Care Team and the Co-Production and Youth Engagement Team has sourced donations from partners to ensure that young people who are leaving care receive Christmas presents.
Included in the donations are advent calendars for every care leaver from Morrisons supermarkets, as well as a gift for all young people involved in the city’s House Project from sponsor Reconomy.
Councillor Rupinderjit Kaur also donated 282 Christmas selection boxes on behalf of her Spring Vale ward constituents.
This comes alongside 45 Just Eat vouchers to enable some of the most vulnerable care leavers in the city to order a Christmas meal, as well as a Christmas goodie pack and festive activities for 21 young people from the Grandmentors scheme, an innovative volunteering project where older volunteers use their lifetime of skills and experience to support and mentor young people leaving the care system.
As well as the donated items, care leavers will receive a personalised Christmas card from their Young Person Advisor and a survival guide with strategies designed to help them cope over the festive period, and 115 young people will receive financial support through the Government's Winter Fund offer.
There are even gifts in store for the children of care leavers, courtesy of the Simple Acts of Kindness Appeal.
Councillor Beverley Momenabadi, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “It is fantastic to see so many treats being donated through sheer kindness from individuals, organisations and appeals in the city. Their generosity will ensure that care leavers do not miss out during the festive period.
“Supporting care leavers is a key priority for the council. In many cases, these young people have experienced a tough start to their life, so it is our collective responsibility to ensure that they are not left behind – especially at Christmas time.”
The council helps hundreds of young people make the move out of care to independent living every year, and those who are about to make, or have recently made, the move will be taking part in a range of activities to highlight their progress.
Wolverhampton's Local Offer for care leavers aged between 16 and 25 provides information about a wide range of services which could help young care leavers prepare for adult life.
The Local Offer was developed in partnership with care leavers and includes details of support which they are entitled to by law, as well as additional services that the council has been able to secure with the help of partner organisations. For more information, please visit Children in Care.
