Rebuilding Life After the Care System
Published 17 May 2026
Stage 1
The Problem
A young person aged 18 arrived at Winners of Tomorrow shortly after aging out of the care system. With no family network to fall back on, no fixed accommodation and no experience of managing daily life independently, they were at serious risk of crisis. They had never paid a bill, cooked a regular meal or held down a tenancy. Their confidence was extremely low and they had developed a deep distrust of support services following a difficult care experience.
Stage 2
The Intervention
We placed them in one of our semi-independent properties in East London and assigned a Key Worker who prioritised relationship-building above everything else in the first few weeks. Rather than presenting a long list of goals and expectations, the Key Worker simply showed up consistently, was honest, and made it clear they were not going anywhere. Over time trust developed and together they began working on practical independence skills: cooking, budgeting, using public transport, registering with a GP, and understanding tenancy responsibilities. We also connected the young person to the Redbridge Into Work programme and supported them to access therapeutic support through Kooth. Multi-agency meetings with their personal advisor were held regularly to ensure everyone was working towards the same goals.
Stage 3
The Outcome
Twelve months after moving in, the young person had developed a level of independence that even they had not believed possible. They were managing their own finances, cooking daily, maintaining their property, and had begun a part-time role in retail while exploring longer-term career options. They successfully moved on to their own tenancy with a planned package of floating support, which they have maintained. When asked what had made the difference, they said simply: "Someone finally stayed." That is what we are here to do.
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