The morning of
With the support and cooperation from the North Yorkshire Leaving Care team we took 13 care experienced young people from North Yorkshire down to London for 2 very full days!
After waking up early and getting various trains down to Kings Cross London, we all met up- this was the first time some of the young people had met each other (or been to London). Filled with nerves and anticipation, we headed for our next train to Stratford International all together this time. With new friendships budding we found our way through the impressive Westfield Centre, to head to the top floor of the John Lewis store. Nestled behind the children's section (luckily for us since the shopping was less tempting), we found our way to the John Lewis School of Service. This is a unique part of the Westfield Centre John Lewis location, where they train their customer service partners in efforts to provide top service throughout their locations.
John Lewis Partnership
After providing us with an amazing lunch, we heard from the care leavers team about their efforts with the 'Building Happier Futures' programme. The John Lewis Partnership is dedicated to providing support and opportunities to people that have been in care, this was officially launched through their 2022 Christmas advert, which is why we originally got in contact with them regarding this trip.
You can find the advert here: The Beginner | John Lewis & Partners | Christmas Ad 2022 - YouTube
The 'Building Happier Futures' programme supports care experienced individuals in a number a ways, from charitable donations, to scholarships for university, to a guaranteed interview scheme. To find out more about how the John Lewis Partnership and the 'Building Happier Futures' programme, please follow this link.
Next, we heard from some incredible people who look into future trends at John Lewis Partnership. John Vary is the futurologist at John Lewis, alongside him was Natou Camara, a Futures Analyst. With them, we talked about the future and how to think about it, along with this we participated in some fun, and thought-provoking activities. It was particularly great to hear from Natou briefly talk about her experiences being in care and what led her to her current opportunity.
Our final activity at JPL was speed networking. The young people got into pairs and had the opportunities to hear from 8 different partners at the organisation to learn a bit about their roles, how they got into it and any advice they may have.
After a very busy start to the day we were all ready to go check into our accommodation and have a bit of a break- but not before we had to use the tube!
Accommodation
All the young people and a couple members of the North Yorkshire Leaving Care team stayed at the King's College London's Stamford Street Apartments. This gave them all a bit of a feel for what uni accommodation might be like (also what it is like to try to sleep next to a busy London street)!
Dinner and show
After a short rest we all headed to Covent Garden for dinner. We had some great pizza at Franco Manca's, throughout dinner it was clear that anticipation (and voices) were rising! Following a great meal, our staff parted ways with the North Yorkshire Leaving Care team staff and the young people, who all headed to see the Lion King at the Lyceum theatre. While they were having an incredible time at the theatre, we opted for a pint and an early night in anticipation for our early morning walking tour!
The walking tour
We are very lucky to have our personal London guide, Alex, who used to actually do tours when he lived in London. Although not everyone was completely awake or energetic, we began a walking tour of just a small section of London. We went down past the London Eye, over the bridge to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, went past Downing Street, saw the Horse Guards at Whitehall, passed Trafalgar Square, and finally ended up at King's College London Strand campus.
King's College London
We had a brief rest of our legs while we heard from King's College about their university, university life in general and also about their specific support they offer for care leavers. Next we got a quick tour of their stunning campus, seeing the chapel, a big lecture hall, a cafe and Somerset House. From here, we had to hustle just a bit to get to our next destination.
Financial Ombudsman Service
We quickly headed over to Canary Wharf to get to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Probably because we were a bit hungry, but with the skyscrapers towering over us, the 15 minute walk from the tube stop to the building felt a bit never ending, but at least our surroundings were gorgeous. Finally, our efforts had paid off and we made it! After a glass lift ride up to the 15th floor, we consumed so much needed pizza. The views from there were absolutely amazing, and I don't know if I was just hungry, but I swear the food tasted better at that height!
After some mingling and a brief tour, we heard from two apprentices about their experiences and roles at the FOS. Lastly, the young people once again got to speed network in a completely different setting and field than they had the day prior.
After once last trip down in the glass lift, we left the FOS in sight of our journey back to King's Cross.
The final bit
We took the stunning DLR to get some final beautiful views of the city, before heading for the tube back to King's Cross. We then ordered some Mcdonald's for everyone to eat then or take back on their train with them. The McDonald's staff were only slightly concerned with me having an entire bag of just chips! As we sat outside King's Cross and prepared to say our goodbyes it started to drizzle a bit, and that is when we knew it was our time to head back up to the rainy North! After a couple hours everyone was safely home, and I can't speak for everyone else, but I had the greatest night of sleep in my life.
Annie Smith
Project Assistant
Back to all news stories
