'Moving On' into Spring with Staf

Subject: 'Moving On' into Spring with Staf

Dear Friend

Welcome to the Spring edition of the Staf newsletter.

How lovely to feel we are finally into spring; this change of season sees lots of our work coming to fruition, with recent celebratory events and seeds planted in the 'Moving On' Change Programme beginning to blossom - more on that next time.

The outcomes from the Moving On Change Programme, plus lots of great information we have gathered at our programme of reflective supervision residentials, will inform the agendas at this year's member focus groups and forums, which will continue to provide platforms for collaboration and discussion.

Reflective Supervision Residentials

So far, we have received excellent feedback, with participants appreciating the practical tools and networking opportunities, along with the space to reflect on how this informs their practice. Building on this success, we are hosting two more fully funded residentials in Glasgow and Edinburgh soon. Spaces are very limited, so don’t miss your chance to join us. Book your spot now.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Staf is calling on the Scottish Government to act on its commitment to a Minimum Income Guarantee by piloting a scheme for Care Leavers who take up Modern Apprenticeships. At the end of February, key decision-makers, care experienced young people and sector leaders gathered at the Scottish Parliament to discuss our ground-breaking proposal. This initiative, developed in partnership with Aberlour and Care Experienced Consultants, aims to tackle the financial insecurity too many young Care Leavers face. Read more in our blog post.

NEW Trauma-Informed, Relationship-Based Practice Course

Developed in partnership with The Open University, this free, introductory course focuses on strengthening trauma-informed and relationship-based practices. Following our launch event at the end of March, anyone can now access the short course, to complete at your own pace.

'Let’s Talk' Animations and Learning Guide

A collaborative project between Staf, One Community Scotland and the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, 'Let's Talk' brought together young people from care, justice and ethnic minority backgrounds to explore stop and search, in partnership with the Stop and Search team. You can now view the two animations and download the learning guide to use alongside them in your work.

IFCO Conference 2025

We are partnering with The Fostering Network and International Foster Care Organisation (IFCO) to host an international conference this in Glasgow this June. We recently announced our two fantastic keynote speakers - Brenda Matthews and Fatima Whitbread. Discounted early bird tickets are available now, for a limited time only.

If you would like to learn more about our projects or chat to a member of the team, please do reach out. We look forward to upcoming opportunities for even greater member engagement and to working together over the spring and summer months.

With best wishes

Jo Derrick
Staf CEO

Thriving, Not Just Surviving

A Minimum Income Guarantee for Care Leavers

On Thursday 27 February, key decision-makers, care experienced young people and sector leaders gathered at the Scottish Parliament to discuss this ground-breaking proposal. This initiative, developed in partnership with Staf, Aberlour and Care Experienced Consultants, aims to tackle the financial insecurity too many young Care Leavers face.

Leaving care should be the start of independence, but for many young people, it means stepping into financial uncertainty with no safety net. Unlike their peers, young people moving on from care often have no family support, making it harder to afford basic essentials, stay in education or build a stable future.

“This pilot isn’t just a project - it’s a promise that Care Leavers matter, that we deserve the same opportunities as anyone else. And as someone who’s been through it, I know it has the power to transform lives. A MIG means we wouldn’t have to choose between rent and food. It means we could actually focus on building our future, instead of just surviving. We call on the Scottish Government to act on its commitment to a MIG by piloting a targeted scheme for Care Leavers in Modern Apprenticeships. This is an opportunity to Keep The Promise and ensure no young person moving on from care is left behind.”

A message from IFCO President,

Jo Derrick

"I am delighted to invite you to attend the International Foster Care Organisation (IFCO) Conference 2025, which takes place in Glasgow on 5-8 June. We are excited to share that the we are about to publish the full programme, featuring presenters and workshop facilitators from across the globe, and we have announced two incredible keynote speakers - Brenda Matthews and Fatima Whitbread.

"I attended my first IFCO conference in Malta in 2017, before becoming a Board member, and at that time was presenting on the development of permanent foster care in Scotland.

"As the Director of a fostering agency at the time, I was able to support one of our fostering families to take part in the conference. This gave me a real insight into the positive impact attending an IFCO conference can have for carers, children and the workforce that support them alike.

"As someone with experience of being a foster carer myself, attending our last conference in 2022 in Darwin, Australia, it was amazing to see so many carers in the 600+ delegation.

"This is one of the strengths of the IFCO conference; it is organised by an international charity that ‘gets it’ and was initially established by carers, with carers in mind, 40 years ago, advocating for alternative family-based care instead of institutionalised care as the best alternative for children to flourish. It is also why we are proud to run a youth programme and child programme alongside the conference, to bring voices of children, young people and young adults into the legacy of the conference, along with the learning and networking that so many previous delegates have appreciated at IFCO conferences.

"This year, the conference theme is Brave Hearts in Care: Building Trust, Confidence and Connections where we aim to enhance the outcomes for children and young people in foster care by focusing on the critical importance of relationships. We are thankful to have The Fostering Network and Staf as partners, bringing their knowledge, expertise and membership to these global conversations on the importance of relationships for our children, young people and young adults, as they journey in throughcare and aftercare.

Early bird registration is now open and you can follow us on social media @IFCO.info to stay updated on the latest news. I hope to see you in June."

Get your ticket

Foundations of Trauma-Informed, Relationship-Based Practice Course developed by Staf in partnership with the Open University

This free, short introductory course helps you understand the concepts of trauma-informed and relationship-based practice.

It is suitable for anyone working with, supporting or caring for children, young people, and their families or caregivers, especially those who may have experienced trauma.

The course is available now on the OU OpenLearn Create platform.

If you would like to have a chat about the course, or how Staf can support your learning further, such as a training session in your workplace, please contact dawn@staf.scot.

Please share with your networks to let more people know about this free resource.

Check out the course

Have you used The Real Toolkit? It's our ultimate resource to support people moving on from care.

Even if you haven't used it, please answer a few questions help shape its future.

We want to hear from people who have care experience and members of the workforce who support them.

Help us focus on the topics where you want to see more info. Thank you.

Take the survey

Friendship Focused Support Research - Practitioner Survey

Understanding friendship support for care experienced people

Staf, in partnership with a team of care experienced researchers, throughcare and aftercare workers, and staff from the Universities of Edinburgh and Stirling, invites practitioners working with care experienced people to share your insights on friendship support via a short online survey.

About the project

Most people value friendship in their lives, and find comfort, support and happiness in these relationships. However, we know from the Independent Care Review in Scotland, we do not always do enough to support the friendships of people with care experience. Our research aims to help everyone in the 'care system' better understand the importance of these relationships, and provide practical strategies and ideas to support them effectively.

Why we need your input

Your practical experience is essential to our research. This survey will help us:

Identify factors that help or hinder friendship for care experienced people
Collect examples of friendship-related practice
Understand the challenges in supporting friendships
Develop practical ideas and strategies for the best ways to support friendship

The survey takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Your responses will be treated confidentially. You will also have the opportunity to sign up for updates and/or participate in the research further.

What happens next

The survey closes at the end of June. Findings from this survey will complement the work being done by our research teams. The new practice materials will be launched at the Staf conference in November.

Thank you for contributing to this important work. Your insights will help transform friendship support for care experienced people across Scotland.

If you have any questions, please contact ruth@staf.scot or a.roeschmarsh@ed.ac.uk.

Take the survey

Following the success of our reflective supervision residentials to date, we are pleased to announce additional Glasgow and Edinburgh residentials to open up spaces for those who have not been able to join us so far.

27–29th May at Malmaison Glasgow

3rd – 5th June at Malmaison Edinburgh (Leith)

Each team is invited to nominate up to two individuals to attend one of the residentials. If there are additional team members interested, please let us know. We understand that committing to the full residential may not be possible for everyone, so we are happy to accommodate flexible attendance if that would enable you or your colleagues to join.

Please feel free to reach out to jenna@staf.scot if you have any questions or need further information. We are excited about what we have planned and look forward to welcoming you all.

Book your place

Our LCT Resource Hub was developed to provide anyone interested in improving the lives of people with care experience, the opportunity to benefit and learn from the investment of the Life Changes Trust care-experience programme, including those with lived experience.

The Hub welcomes new resources that support children and young people in care, leaving care and who have left care. If you or your organisation have a resource that you would like to share on the Hub, such as informative articles, case studies, guides and how-tos, videos and webinars, funding opportunities and grants, or reports and research, please click below to submit the resource.

If you would like more information about the Hub, or to have a chat about a possible resource for the Hub, please contact dawn@staf.scot.

Submit a resource

We also have the next Participation Practitioners' Forum coming up on Wednesday 18 June if you want to save the date for that one.

Our Youth Justice Voices groups in Glasgow and Aberdeen are busy with a whole host of activities over the spring and summer.

We are always looking for new people, aged 16-25 with care and justice experience, to join us. Do you work with anyone who might like to get involved? Joining means you can:

Meet other young people and share your experiences
Take part in something fun and worthwhile
Decide what the project should focus on and how we get others involved
Present issues and recommendations to service managers, policy makers and the Scottish Government
Get the opportunity to learn skills and access other opportunities
Be rewarded for your time through fun and creative activities
Decide how often you want to meet and how involved you want to be

To find out more, get in touch with:

katrina@staf.scot for Glasgow

or jack@staf.scot for Aberdeen

Steering Group

The projects that received £50,000 NLN funding for their leadership projects are:

MCR Pathways

Young Person Voice, which aims to empower care experienced young people and those facing significant instability by providing a platform to share their perspectives, advocate for policy reform and develop leadership skills.

Stirling Champs Board

Career Pathways, which aims to provide opportunities for care experienced people and young people who have missed out on aspects of universal education, supporting them to access pathways towards leadership skills development, confidence, skills building and community inclusion through sports.

The recipients of NLN individual grants have mostly received their money already. The Steering Group feel this quick turnaround is down to them making all aspects of the funding process as simple as possible. We will be following up with people on the impact of the grants in around three months’ time.

We are all ready for the next funding opportunity, which will be to award

10 x 1-year projects up to £15,000.

Consultants

The team have designed all NLN merch, which recently arrived. This includes bags, pens, and t-shirts. The Consultants are working on a plan for distributing and promoting the NLN merch, which will include using our social media platforms and delivering an online quiz. We will also be working in partnership with the Stirling, Falkirk and Perth Champs to promote it.

Chris, one of the NLN Consultants, has been developing a workshop with a focus on relational practice, which has been accepted for the international conference IFCO 2025. Look out for more information on this, as is it something that could potentially be adapted for people you are working with.

Award nominations

The NLN Steering Group and Consultants have been nominated for Team of the Year at this year’s Youthlink Awards. This nomination has been supported by Steering Group member Paige Ballentyne, who has written a fantastic piece on her time with the NLN, which features in this year's easy-to-read annual report.

The NLN Steering Group and Consultants have also been nominated for a ‘Community’ Award at the Young Scot Awards 2025. Again, this has been supported with a written piece by Paige from the Steering Group.

For more information, please contact gary@thenln.org.

Visit NLN Website

We are sharing the following on behalf of Dr Luke Power, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh's Department of Psychology.

"We are currently looking to pilot the Mental Health in the Moment (MHIM) project. MHIM aims to look at the mental health of adolescents, specifically focusing on the impacts of their day-to-day experiences. The main MHIM project will extend over 5 years, where we will follow a group of 500 adolescents, measuring mental health concepts such as depression, anxiety and quality of life. By following adolescents’ mental health over a long period of time, we hope to identify key influences, critical junctures and significant changes that can inform future mental health interventions. At present, we are looking to recruit 100 participants across Scotland, aged 11-15 years, for 2 months to pilot the study."

Please contact ppls.mhim@ed.ac.uk for more information.

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Subject: 'Moving On' into Spring with Staf