Welcome to the Local Offer
Welcome to the Local Offer for young people leaving care in Nottingham City. The Local Offer has been in place for several years now and sets out how we plan to support you to become successful in whatever you choose to do.
Our Local Offer complements our Children in Care and Care Leavers Strategy 2023. At Nottingham City we see our role as Corporate Parents to advocate on behalf of care experienced children and young people and to support and empower you to make your own decisions in preparation for adulthood.
We want all of our children and young people to achieve their full potential and obtain the best possible outcomes, the same outcomes that we would expect for our own children.
We are committed to our Corporate Parenting Principles:
- to act in the best interests, and promote the physical and mental health and well-being, of our children and young people
- to encourage children and young people to express their views, wishes and feelings
- to take into account your views, wishes and feelings
- to help children and young people gain access to, and make the best use of, services provided by the local authority and its relevant partners
- to promote high aspirations, and seek to secure the best outcomes, for children and young people
- for children and young people to be safe, and have stability in their home lives, relationships and education or work.
- to prepare children and young people for adulthood and independent living.
Are you a Care Leaver aged between 18-25?
Click on the pictures below to find out more
Meet the Team
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Leaving Care Team |
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Akirah Dyer How long have you been in the team? I became part of the team for in January 23, and became a permanent member of staff in June 23. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? I enjoy the meaningful relationships you can build with young people, I enjoy conversation and getting to know the different ways each young person thinks, behaves and outlook to the world, I enjoy being able to inspire young people and motivating them to aspire for better outcomes for their life. What do you like to do in your spare time? Depending on what mood I am in, In my spare time I enjoy watching movies or I do enjoy watching music videos and attending concerts/festivals, sometimes I enjoy baking . |
Alan Monaghan How long have you been in the team? 18 years. What do you like most about being a Senior Personal Adviser? Working directly with young people especially supporting those who are going to university. What do you like to do in your spare time? Watching cricket and spending time with family. |
Brenda Thomas How long have you been in the team? 4 months. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Supporting young people to reach their full potential. What do you like to do in your spare time? Going to the gym, cooking, and spending time with family. |
Edward Hambleton How long have you been in the team? Since May 2023. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Best part of being a PA is when a result comes in for a young person and they are happy. Whether they be getting their immigration status or housing or work, seeing a young person succeed is the best part. What do you like to do in your spare time? In my spare time, I play darts in 2 leagues and I like hiking around the Peak district. |
Enoch Tifemi How long have you been in the team? I joined the Leaving Care Team in September 2021 as a part-time worker. I then became full-time in January 2022. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Honestly, the best thing about being a PA is the opportunity to build relationships with my care leavers. I like working in partnership, where we work together to achieve set goals. I also enjoy helping care leavers in difficult situations by working with them to develop strategies to manage challenges. I’ve learnt a lot from care leavers (experiences, likes/dislikes, views on services etc) that has helped improve my role as a PA-which has been key in achieving positive outcomes. What do you like to do in your spare time? I enjoy watching sports-mainly football (I’m a Liverpool fan), basketball and UFC, playing pool, spending time with my family and travelling (although this is mainly around the UK for now!). |
Gee Sandhu How long have you been in the team? 10 years. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Enjoy working directly with young people and supporting them into their own accommodation. It is very empowering to see them succeed . What do you like to do in your spare time? Playing football, watching football and generally socialising with my friends and family. |
Herbert Nyika How long have you been in the team? 1 Year 6 months. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Supporting young adults meet their future aspirations. What do you like to do in your spare time? Watching football ‐ I support the Gunners. I also like going to the gym. |
Jo Shepherd How long have you been in the team? Since June 2023. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Working with lots of different young people and helping them achieve their independence. No two days are the same. What do you like to do in your spare time? Reading, days out, seeing friends. |
Judith Kobutungi How long have you been in the team? 17 years. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Supporting young people so that they can live successful independent lives. What do you like to do in your spare time? Hike and Cycling. |
Leah Harrington How long have you been in the team? I have been in the team for 11 weeks. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? I enjoy building relationships with young people the most out of this role. As we have longer with these young people, it really gives me the chance to get to know them and what they need from me. This makes the job a lot more enjoyable as you cannot advise someone if you don’t know who they are on a more personal level. What do you like to do in your spare time? I find that both of these things provide a space for me to switch off after work and on weekends, and allows me to put my mind at rest from the day. |
Lisa Spencer How long have you been in the team? I am the interim Service Manager for Leaving Care, I joined Nottingham City in June 2023 so I’m quite new! I am a qualified social worker, who has been managing Leaving Care services for many years. I am very much looking forward to working more with the team and young people at Nottingham City. What do you like most about being in the team? I have always loved working in Leaving Care Services and working with young people. I am constantly inspired by young people, their resilience, creativity and personalities. I am passionate about making sure care leavers get the best service possible and I try to make sure we deliver this, by listening to what young people have to say about the service and understanding their ideas for how we can do things better. I am really enjoying working at Nottingham City and getting to know the teams and young people, so we can move forward together to make sure young people receive a great leaving care service in Nottingham City. What do you like to do in your spare time? I like to keep myself healthy both physically and mentally, so I try to eat well, I love eating and cooking food; I try and get outdoors and into fresh air as much as I can by walking in the hills /forest, which I find massively relaxing. I enjoy doing yoga classes, travelling and reading. I mostly enjoy spending time with my friends and family including my mischievous cat! |
Listone Longwe How long have you been in the team? I joined the team on 12/06/2023 What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? I love working with people and the ability my role gives me to make a difference in someone’s life in ways large or small, is very rewarding. It’s good to be part of a team where there is a genuine spirit of cooperation which revolves around helping our young people so that they can make something of their life. What do you like to do in your spare time? I like to read and watch football . |
Lynn Pearce How long have you been in the team? Answer soon… What do you like most about being in the team? Answer soon… What do you like to do in your spare time? Answer soon… |
Michael Foster How long have you been in the team? Since 12/06/2023 What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Willingness to share advice and knowledge. Every day is different. What do you like to do in your spare time? Relaxing in my garden. Engaging in Fantasy Football with a group of friends. |
Natalie Pink How long have you been in the team? 4 years. What do you like most about being a Senior Personal Adviser? I really enjoy spending time with young people and adults, seeing them grow and their successes, big or small! What do you like to do in your spare time? I have spent a lot of time renovating and decorating my house this year. It’s been hard work, but means I’ve got lots of top painting tips to share! |
Nimi Dhillon How long have you been in the team? Since February 2023. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Supporting and helping young people achieve their goals. What do you like to do in your spare time? Party hard. |
Sadie Wilcox How long have you been in the team? Answer soon… What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Answer soon… What do you like to do in your spare time? Answer soon… |
Saiqa Hussain How long have you been in the team? Answer soon… What do you like most about being in the team? Answer soon… What do you like to do in your spare time? Answer soon… |
Sameer Patel How long have you been in the team? Answer soon… What do you like most about being in the team? Answer soon… What do you like to do in your spare time? Answer soon… |
Seana Spicer How long have you been in the team? I think it’s coming up to 13 years. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? I like meeting different people, young people especially, I like hearing their views and seeing growth over the years that I work with them. What do you like to do in your spare time? In my spare time, I do a lot of Mummying but when they go to bed I sneak out and listen to new bands and old. Nottingham has a great music scene, catering to individual tastes! |
Simeon Charles How long have you been in the team? about 3 months. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? Every day is different. What do you like to do in your spare time? Having family time and doing activity’s with my Children. |
Stephanie Wilkins How long have you been in the team? I have been in the team for 5 years. What do you like most about being a Senior Personal Adviser? I enjoy being part of the team and watching young people grown and achieve all the goals especially when they succeed in living independently! What do you like to do in your spare time? I enjoy walking in the countryside, travelling the world! And I play netball twice a week for a local team. |
Tanya Davis How long have you been in the team? I Have been working for the team for 14 years. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? I like working with young people to enhance their current journey from child to young adult, I like seeing the young people develop life skills, self‐confidence and meeting their personal goals no matter how big or small. What do you like to do in your spare time? I like spending time with family and friends, listening to music and watching football. |
Warren Raymond How long have you been in the team? I have been in the Team for about 18 months. What do you like most about being a Personal Adviser? I enjoy being a PA, as I enjoy working with young adults, problem solving challenging behaviour. What do you like to do in your spare time? In my Spare time, I like spending time with my Daughter who is 11 years old, as I missed all this with my son when he was 11. |
What is the Local Offer?
The local offer includes details of the services and support that available to you as you travel on your journey to independence, it will cover:
- Your Rights and Entitlements
- Your Health and Well-being, with information about staying in good physical, emotional and mental health and services that can support you to manage this.
- Your Relationships to support you develop and maintain positive social networks, reduce loneliness so you don’t feel isolated.
- Your Education, Employment and Training to support you with your career goals and help you find the right pathway for you.
- Your Home to support you to find housing that is right for you.
- Financial Support to support you to understand any financial support that is available to you and support you to manage your money
- Your participation in society, to support you to get involved and have your say. Provide you with information about activities, events or volunteering opportunities available in the local area.
The Local Offer is available to all care leavers who are entitled to the service (see below).
What is a Personal Advisor?
Your Personal Advisor will be introduced to you when you are 16 years old and will attend your child in care reviews to support planning for when you are 18-year-old.
When you are 17 ½ they will alongside you and your social worker to support you to as you prepare to leave care. Your Personal Advisor can work with you up to your 25th birthday.
What is a Pathway Plan?
When you are 15 ¾ your Social Worker will work with you to put your first pathway plan in place by your 16th birthday, this will replace your care plan. Pathway planning will continue until you are 21 years old, or up to your 25th birthday, if you continue working with us.
The pathway plan gives you and your Social Worker/Personal Advisor a place to record your views, your aspirations & goals and the support you might need as you travel into adulthood and independence. The pathway plan will cover the following areas:
- Safe and suitable accommodation
- Education, training and employment
- Finances and money
- Good health: physical, emotional and mental health
- Identity
- Family/relationships/social networks
You may have some particular personal circumstances and the pathway plan will set out what particular /extra support you might need:
- You are an unaccompanied (or former) unaccompanied asylum-seeking child
- You have special educational needs
- You are a young person in custody
- You are a young parent
- You are at university/apprenticeship.
What if I need urgent help and/or support
If there is an emergency and you or someone you know is at risk of harm or a crime is taking place, contact Emergency Services.
Do NOT wait to speak to your Personal Advisor.
It is a good idea to have numbers saved to your phone if it is safe for you, or in a safe place.
Call 999 and ask for police, ambulance or fire service.
If you are in immediate danger always call 999 for an emergency response from the police. Silent calls to the police will work if you are not safe to speak – use the Silent Solution system and call 999 and then press 55 when prompted.
If it is not an emergency but you need to contact the police you can call: 101
Crimestoppers 0800 555111 or Crimestoppers webpage
Children in Care Police Officers are also available to help Care Leavers.
If you urgently need to speak with someone about your mental health:
Samaritans. To talk about anything that is upsetting you, you can contact Samaritans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can call 116 123 (free from any phone), email jo@samaritans.org or visit some branches in person. You can also call the Samaritans Welsh Language Line on 0808 164 0123 (7pm–11pm every day).
Saneline: If you're experiencing a mental health problem or supporting someone else, you can call SANEline on 0300 304 7000 (4.30pm–10.30pm every day).
National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK. Offers a supportive listening service to anyone with thoughts of suicide. You can call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK on 0800 689 5652 (6pm to midnight every day).
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). You can call the CALM on 0800 58 58 58 (5pm–midnight every day) if you are struggling and need to talk. Or if you prefer not to speak on the phone, you could try the CALM webchat service.
Nightline: If you're a student, you can look on the Nightline website to see if your university or college offers a night-time listening service. Nightline phone operators are all students too.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust: 24/7 crisis helpline for all ages across Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County. Tel: 0808 196 3779
Children in Care & Care Leavers Websites
You can visit the Leaving Care webpages at: Leaving Care Service | Ask Lion - Nottingham City Directory
You can visit the Children in Care webpages at: Children In Care | Ask Lion - Nottingham City Directory
