1 December 2022

The Drive Forward Foundation (DFF) gave an award to CNWL on 29 November.

The DFF say, “Since the beginning, it’s been our aim to make a difference in the lives of young care leavers. Regardless of background and circumstances, we’re here to help them make some momentum, find their way in the world and realise their individual potential.” See Supporting Care Leavers Lives - Drive Forward Foundation

For this award DFF said:

We set up our annual awards back in 2019 to celebrate the impact and acknowledge the effort our partners and mentors have made during the year in offering invaluable support, and fulfilling and sustainable employment to care-experienced young people across London.

We have been working with the Central and North West London (CNWL) NHS Trust over the last two years to make the NHS more accessible to care-experienced young people. In 2022, CNWL doubled the number of ring-fenced yearlong internship opportunities for young people working with Drive Forward.

As a Trust, CNWL work across Central and North West London to provide mental, community, and specialised services for people from birth to end-of-life care. Four young people have been taken on as Project Interns and will be responsible for different projects and supporting their teams to develop essential services for people with mental health conditions, autism, and learning disabilities.

Anton Babey, CEO

“Our partnership with CNWL combines our strengths, with a socially conscious employer offering quality career opportunities on one side, and a specialist organisation offering holistic support to our young people on the other. We're confident that together we can make a lasting impact not only on individual's lives but also across the sector."

With no strict entry criteria or qualifications needed, and an emphasis on personal development, continuous learning, and skills-building, these positions are truly accessible to our motivated young people. This year’s interns only started working with CNWL and we are excited to see how they get on over the next 12 months!

Alison Maffey, from CNWL accepts the award

“Thanks very much to the wonderful Drive Forward Foundation, which we are very proud to be a partner of. Young care leavers are such an asset. Imagine if all NHS organisations had just two care-leaver year-long placements every year! This year CNWL doubled the number of internships offered. They were so brilliant that they secured permanent jobs in the Trust within 6 months. Their placement teams were bereft to lose them so quickly but you can’t keep down talent. Let’s do more.”

Read more on the Drive Forward Foundation website.