CLNM Newsletter - May 2024

Posted 24th May 2024

CLNM has had a busy six months. The end-of-year celebration was full of fun and laughter. We ate together, shared gifts and had a great time.

Rosie Blackett left NHP in February after four incredible years as a Participation and Development Worker. Many CLNM reps and alumni gathered at NHP’s office to pass on their best wishes to Rosie and to let her know the positive impact she has had over the past four years. Rosie has left a wonderful legacy for CLNM to build on and develop.

New chairs and vice-chairs were elected for each region at the beginning of the year, and two meetings have already taken place.

The Board Induction Day took place in April where the new chairs, vice chairs and a new trustee were welcomed, and we learnt about how the Board works and how we can be fully involved in the process.

CLNM also provided ongoing consultation to organisations wanting to do things differently for care-experienced young people and continued work to implement the four peer recommendations from the 2023 Peer Evaluation.

Enjoy finding out more below.

What's inside:

> CLNM Overview
> New CLNM Reps, Chairs and Vice Chairs
> New NHP Staff

> CYP Now - NHP Supports Care Leaver Apprentices

> First Three Meetings of the Year!
> Peer Evaluation
> CLNM Conference Save the Date
> Chester Half and Kilt Walk
> CLNM Alumni
> Workstreams
> Consultations

CLNM Overview:

CLNM is a growing movement of young people from Local House Projects across England and Scotland.

CLNM Vision

All young people to be supported to leave care well and have the skills, knowledge and confidence to live connected and fulfilling lives.

CLNM Mission

For young people and professionals to work together across the House Project community to improve leaving care services on a local and national level.
Four main objectives:

Highlight success stories to inspire, inform and influence positive change.
Raise challenges and apply changes to improve services for young people.
Test new ideas designed with young people.
Regularly complete peer evaluations and implement their recommendations.

You can find out more about CLNM by checking out this short animation or having a look on their website here.

New CLNM Reps, Chairs and Vice Chairs

In January new CLNM reps joined young people staying on for a second year and began their journey with CLNM. This year CLNM are focusing on implementing the recommendations from the 2023 Peer Evaluation. CLNM are delighted that last year’s Chairs, went on to become NHP Champions for 2024. Champions support CLNM by offering advice to the Chairs and Vice Chairs and being part of the Trustee Advisory Group.

Come meet the current CLNM reps...

New NHP Staff

Find out more about the NHP team...

CYP Now - NHP Supports Care Leaver Apprentices

A new Participation and Development Worker has been appointed. Lizzie Hickton-Jones joined us at the beginning of May, and has already met several CLNM reps at interview, the Board Induction day and a visit to the South Regional meeting. Lizzie will be focusing on supporting the South Region.

Read the full article...

First Three Meetings of the Year!

The first three CLNM meetings of the year have already taken place.

Regional Meetings

Two regional meetings highlighted themes including “base” and “communication.” CLNM shared that young people value having a base and CLNM encourage LHPs who currently do not have a base to identify one as soon as possible.

CLNM would like more communication in relation to housing. Young people want to be kept informed of potential timelines, and to always be able to look around a potential home before committing to moving in.

National Meeting

The first national meeting of the year took place in February at Backdane. CLNM focused on the four recommendations from the Peer Evaluation for much of the time (see below). They also renamed the “Residential” component of HPP to “Trip Away”.

In addition, they decided how to spend their well-earned shared pot of money. They are investing in branded CLNM Oodies and Nintendo Switches to be used in recreational times at meetings.

Peer Evaluation

CLNM have divided the four Peer Evaluation recommendations with each region working on two each. The National CLNM group has overall responsibility for ensuring NHP implement them.

The North are focusing on:

Good mental health for all - Young people need different levels of support for their mental health at different points, which is easily accessible.

and

Local opportunities for Local House Projects - Young people want support to access a wider range of opportunities in their local communities.

The South are focusing on:

A community beyond moving in - The friendships and connections made are important and young people need support to maintain these when they have moved into their own homes.

and

No conversation about me without me - Young people in the House Project should be included and informed about conversations that are about them.

LHPs will be seeing CLNM’s work on the Peer Recommendations over the next few months.

Take a look at the full 2023 Peer Evaluation...

CLNM Conference Save the Date

The 2024 CLNM Conference will take place on Thursday 14th November and will focus on Developing Direction. CLNM reps from across the UK plan and deliver an annual event where space is created for projects to showcase what they have been doing and CLNM share their work from the previous year. This year we will hear how the four recommendations are being implemented, and how this will help young people in House Projects develop direction in their lives. We will also think about the direction and growth of NHP as a charity.

Check out the film from last years Conference ...

Chester Half and Kilt Walk

30 runners ran the Chester Half Marathon to support NHP. CLNM Alumni Paris, ran the half marathon, contributing to over £4000 that has been raised. This money will go toward the funding of White Goods for young people moving into their first homes.

Kelly was the fastest NHP staff runner, smashing her two-hour target by over 10 minutes.

This year we are also taking part in the Edinburgh Kiltwalk Challenge on Sunday 15th September 2024.

Could you take on the 5, 11 or 21 miles in support of NHP?

Workstreams

CLNM raise challenges in NHP and wider systems through ‘workstreams’. Workstreams can directly influence how NHP and CLNM are run and delivered. Often CLNM workstreams involve partnership with other charities or campaigns. For example, workstreams can take the form of consultations or taking part in research.

Community of Practice

CLNM supported Community of Practice in Manchester. Chloe provided a CLNM update and took part in group work developing House Project Programme.

CLNM Membership

CLNM are exploring a potential membership card and are seeking to work with organisations that might be willing to provide discounts to care experienced young people. A working group is in place to develop this.

Housing Community of Practice

NHP have developed a Housing Community of Practice to share best practice between providers. CLNM reps attended the first meeting and shared their experiences of getting a home as part of their House Project Journey. CLNM reps reflected that Housing Providers have lots of people to support, and that they do their best to support NHP young people.

Board of Trustees

CLNM’s Trustee Advisory Group meet one week before Board Meetings. There have been two Board meetings so far this year. In January the Trustee Advisory Group heard about the Illegal Migration Act and were keen to share with the Board the worrying implications for some young people who are part of House Projects. In April, the Trustee Advisory Group chatted through the annual report, and gave feedback to the Board regarding regional meetings.

Energy Champions

The Energy Champions have released advice across social media. View it here.

Consultations

CLNM are expert advisers around their lived experience of the care system and offer the knowledge and insight they gain from this to inform service design and delivery. Their aspiration is to use their experience to improve services for other young people.

Action for Children

CLNM are working with Action for Children to develop content that supports young people with employment.

Limitless 2

Limitless 2 is a new consultation that will continue research into Digital Life Story Work. CLNM reps will train as researchers and conduct research in Local Authorities across the country. This is the next stage of Caring Life research.

Caring Life

The Caring Life consultation has drawn to a close. The University of East Anglia are extremely grateful for CLNM’s input.

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