18th February 2016
Kibble offer a range of services to young people, from residential care and fostering, right through to employability and more. The latest venture, an adjunct to Kibbleworks, is a themed entertainment venue called The Experience. Within this, we operate a youth employability scheme funded by the Big Lottery Fund called The Big YES Programme, which aims to help get young people job ready.
In this episode I speak to Steven and Victoria about what The Big YES programme does, their background in child and youth care, and the confidence that working in the The Big YES programme imparts in both their young people and themselves as child and youth care practitioners.
Child and Youth Care is a multifaceted field that stretches beyond simply caring for children in care. Transition from education to employment is just as important, and the experience that The Big YES Programme and other programmes like it offer is important in facilitating this process.
Kibble has a history of offering employment and training services, and we deliver these services through our social enterprise, Kibbleworks. Like Kibbleworks, The Experience exists to support looked after children, care leavers, unqualified school leavers and young people leaving secure care, so that they can retain the measure of stability that is required to transition to independent living. The YES Programme is a vital addition to this goal, and alongside Kibbleworks it offers practical skills and training, employment support and one-to-one support with CV and interview preparation.
Child and Youth Care does not, and should not, end when a young person exits school. Transition to independent living is a key component and over the coming weeks and months we will be speaking to those who have worked in this field and, perhaps most importantly, transitioned successfully from care to independent living.
One thing that unites the child and youth care workers that I have encountered is their incredible passion for the work they do, and their near bottomless reserves of empathy combined with the desire to help children and young people mature into adults. Steven and Victoria offer a brilliant example of this, and I am excited to meet more people in this field.