Slough Children First’s Leaving Care Team and one of its Young Person’s Advisors were shortlisted for various awards at the PA of the Year awards.
The PA of the Year awards, hosted by the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum (NLCBF), took place on 13 November, is an annual award which celebrates the contribution of Personal Advisors in supporting young people aged 16-25 who are leaving care.
The awards took place during National Care Leavers Month, with the theme for this year being ‘Rising as Me: Overcoming challenges, transforming, and finding your identity’.
Slough Children First’s Leaving Care Team were nominated for the Team of the Year Award, while one of its Young Person’s Advisors, Aaron Burley, was nominated for the PA of the Year Award.
“I have been working as a Young Person’s Advisor at Slough Children First for the past five years. In this role, I am passionate about supporting care-experienced young people as they transition into adulthood. I take pride in building positive relationships, empowering young people to develop independence, and helping them achieve their personal goals. Seeing their progress and confidence grow is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job.” Aaron Burley, Young Person’s Advisor, said.
While Slough Children First’s Leaving Care Team and Aaron Burley were shortlisted from a record number of nominees, unfortunately, neither were finalists.
Hayley North, Team Manager for the Leaving Care Team at Slough Children First, said:
“I am incredibly proud of my team and nominated the whole team for team of the year, as they have put in so much hard work to ensure that our remarkable young people are supported on their pathways to independence. I also nominated Aaron for YPA of the year following contact by one of our young people who has known and supported him for the last few years. He had reached out to share the impact of the support that he had received from Aaron, which demonstrated that Aaron’s kindness had changed this young man’s life for the better. We are so proud of our young people and the team of dedicated advisors who support them each day and go above and beyond in their role, which is so much more than a job to them.”
Sue Butcher, Director of Children’s Services and Chief Executive of Slough Children First, said: “What a great achievement for our Leaving Care Team to be recognised nationally, especially during National Care Leavers Month. The team work hard throughout the year to ensure our care leavers are supported while on their journey to independence. Our vision at Slough Children First is for children and young people to be Happy, Safe & Loved, Thriving, and the nominations our Leaving Care Team and one of our YPAs have received are a testimony to that.”
Congratulations to everyone who was nominated.
To find out more about slough Children First’s Local Offer for Care Leavers, please visit https://www.sloughchildrenfirst.co.uk/sloughs-local-offer-for-care-leavers
