Confident Futures is the First Campus outreach programme for care experienced young people age 14-16. In recent years the programme has been focussed on a two-day summer residential at Cardiff University. During the residentials the young people experience educational and fun social activities at the university, and a taste of independent living in student flats with our student ambassadors.
The participants tell us they love student life – shopping, budgeting and cooking together – meeting new people – trying out different activities – and being part of a new friendship community. In just 24 hours foster parents and carers see huge changes in their young person, with improved self-confidence, renewed enthusiasm, hope and ideas about their future and a new group of friends.
Keen to expand our programme beyond the summer residentials, we consulted young people, Carers, and our partners in the sector to find out what we might offer that would be of value to them.
We learned that all-too-often care experienced young people lack the self-confidence to dream about the future. They may be focussed on their present situation, which can often be unstable and unsure, and it’s not easy for them to consider their academic or career ambitions with so much going on around them.
Reflecting on the summer residentials we learned that forming positive relationships with peers, student ambassadors and university staff, and having positive experiences in a learning environment can transform a young person’s self-worth and swiftly raise their aspirations.
Bringing together young people according to their age, we wanted to create a programme of activities where participants of all learning levels could engage and grow at their own pace.
It is important to us that our young people lead on the direction of the project according to their interests and ideas, and we want to offer our young people opportunities to collaborate with inspirational creative workshop leaders who can help them flourish and discover skills and talents they never realised they had.
We appointed three fantastic workshop leaders sensitive to the challenges faced by the young people, each working in their own unique way with film, words and drama.
We’ve partnered with the National Museum in Cardiff to host the film workshops led by artists/film makers Stephanie Bolt and Thomas Goddard in their amazing museum space after public opening hours.
In Ystrad Mynach we’ve partnered with Coleg y Cymoedd and the educational safeguarding team at Caerphilly Council to offer a local group of young people the opportunity to work with talented Valleys girl, Sara Lewis to cause Creative Disruption on social media and beyond.
The Confident Futures Projects launch on 22 January 2020 in Ystrad Mynach and 28 January 2020 at the National Museum, Cardiff.
For more information and to register interest please email firstcampus@cardiff.ac.uk
