What is Inspire?
Our Inspire pilot project is all about making sure adults, like teachers, carers, and youth workers, feel confident talking with young people from a care background about their education and career plans after school, including things like college, apprenticeships, and university. By listening to what young people say about their experiences and the support they’ve had (or not had), NNECL can create tools for those adults. With these tools we want adults to know how to support young people well when it comes to planning for further education and career choices.
Who can take part?
To take part in our Inspire pilot, you must:
✔ Be up to 21 years old
✔ Have been in care in Southwark, or you be from a care background and currently live in Southwark
What do we mean by care background?
✔ You do or have lived with foster carers
✔ You do or have lived in a residential children's home
✔ You do or have been cared for at home under a supervision order
✔ You do or have previously lived with friends or relatives in kinship care, either formally or informally
✔ You do or have previously had a Special Guardianship Order (SGO)
✔ You do or have been cared for by their local authority, but returned home to their biological relatives, this is also known as reunification
✔ You do or have lived in secure accommodation
✔ You do or have previously lived independently with the support of the local authority, for example, supported lodgings
Do I have to take part?
Taking part is totally optional. Anyone who takes part can stop at any time and doesn’t need to explain why. If there’s anything NNECL can do to support someone to stay involved in Inspire, you can email us at [email protected]
What do I need to know about Inspire?
The Inspire pilot has two main parts for young people:
A survey An in-person focus group in Southwark.
At the same time, adults will be doing their own surveys and focus groups, so we can understand their experiences too.
The pilot runs until August 2025. After that, we’ll look at what worked, what didn’t, and whether Inspire has the potential to make a real, lasting difference.
What do I need to know about the survey?
NNECL are inviting young people with care experience to share what support they've had (or haven’t had) in education. There’s also a separate survey just for adults, to find out how confident they feel when supporting young people with their education and career plans. The survey takes around 10–15 minutes to complete. Just drop us an email and we’ll send you the link.
All responses are private, and any data shared will be anonymised- no one will know who said what. Once the survey is open, there’s no rush. Whoever takes part can take as long as they need and only answer the questions that they feel comfortable with. If you say something that makes us curious in the survey, we may be in touch to find out more.
What do I need to know about the focus group?
NNECL are running an in-person focus group in Southwark on Saturday, 12th July 2025, and we’d love to hear from young people like you! Up to 20 people will be invited to share their thoughts and ideas in more detail. If you're interested, just tick the box at the end of the survey to let us know. The session will last about 3 hours. We wish we could invite everyone, but there are only 20 spaces available. If you say something that makes us curious in the focus group, we may be in touch to find out more.
What do I get for joining the in person focus group?
You’ll get paid for your time
You’ll get free pizza
You’ll help shape the resources and tools adults use to inform other people from a care background about their education and career pathways.
How do I sign up for Inspire?
You can sign up to inspire by filling out the form below, or reach out to the NNECL team anytime at [email protected]
What if I have questions or need support?
No problem! You can reach out to the NNECL team anytime at [email protected]. If you need immediate support, please get in touch with your social worker or personal advisor.
