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Care Leavers – Further Relationships and Ongoing Support Information

Ongoing support with our relationships is important to all of us. The services below are ready to help with practical advice and support:

Aftercare Service (Social Work)

Social work currently provides aftercare for care leavers aged 18 to 26. This includes an allocated worker and pathways planning. The allocated worker will assess need and identify relevant supports. If a young person reaches out for help, the team will try to respond and provide support, even if they are no longer formally allocated a social worker.

The team works on the assumption of an entitlement to support for all care leavers.

If you have any questions about these pages or being a Care Leaver, get in touch at Aftercare@orkney.gov.uk

CLD / Youth Services
  • Access to youth clubs, after-school programmes, and holiday activities to promote social engagement and wellbeing.
  • Opportunities for care leavers to engage in youth forums and community representation, ensuring their voices are heard at local and national levels.
  • Participation in care-experienced groups that offer trips, social activities, and peer support.
Rendall Road Children’s Home
  • The service is committed to providing ongoing support for those who have left their care in line with The Promise and the Care Leavers Covenant.
  • Ex residents are entitled to reach out for support from residential staff, even if they do not have a formal pathway plan in place.
  • The approach is to be flexible and responsive to the needs of young people, recognising that some may not wish to have a formal plan but still require advice, guidance, or practical support.
  • Support should not be cut off arbitrarily at age 26, and in practice, some support continues for older young people where appropriate.
  • The service aims to ensure that when an ex resident requests support, the staff who know them best are involved in providing that support, rather than referring them elsewhere.
  • The process for re-engagement is straightforward: if an ex resident reaches out (directly or via a social worker), the service will respond and involve the relevant staff, updating any plans as needed.
  • This approach is designed to provide continuity, maintain relationships, and uphold the principles of entitlement and ongoing care for those who have left the residential service.
Who Cares? Scotland

Advocacy can offer support to care-experienced young people to

  • Help them articulate their views and highlight any barriers
  • Provide assistance to engage with appropriate services
  • Help young people build and maintain positive relationships with professionals and services
Blide Trust Housing First for Youth (HF4Y)

Targeted housing support for Care Leavers  (includes building relationships of trust with young people and supporting relationships with family and other professionals)

Contact: Leah Bliss

Leah@blidetrust.org

Tel : 07516245449

Blide Trust Care Experienced Young People Project

Offers scaffolding support to Care Leavers and Care Experienced Young people, including building relationships of trust with young people and supporting their relationships with friends, family and other professionals

Contact: Jaden Browne

Jaden@blidetrust.org

Tel: 07719732999

Relationships Scotland Orkney (RSO)

A safe and confidential space for:

  • Individual Counselling to develop understanding of yourself, your situation and make informed choices about how to move forward.
  • Relationship Counselling with a view to understand each other better, to move forward positively or to part in a more amicable way.
  • Young Peoples support helps young people to explore difficult feelings in a safe space and learn tools and coping strategies.
  • Individual Support offers someone practical tools to help manage difficulties such as stress, anxiety, and low mood.
  • The Alcohol & Drug service offers emotional and practical support, help to put a recovery plan in place and/or to explore the underlying reasons for drinking/using drugs.
  • Family Mediation enables people to come together and talk in a safe space with a professional mediator, following a relationship breakdown.
  • The Child Contact Centre provides a safe, friendly, neutral and child centred environment where children can meet with a parent or other family member.

Contact: Arlene Montgomery, Practice Manager

enquiries@rsorkney.org.uk

Tel : 01856 877750

Vital Talk

Counselling service run by fully qualified volunteers for the Orkney community

Contact: Caroline Christian (Secretary)

enquiries@vitaltalk.co.uk

Home-Start Orkney

Home-Start Orkney is a voluntary organisation committed to promoting the welfare of families with at least one child under five years of age. We are there for parents when they need us the most, because childhood can’t wait.

We recruit and train volunteers to visit families at home where they can offer informal, friendly and confidential support.

We also offer Family Groups which provide parents with a wide range of activities, external support and a chance to meet other parents.

Contact: admin@homestartorkney.org.uk

01856 870770

Women’s Aid

We offer trauma informed support for women and children who have/are experiencing domestic abuse. We have a:

  • Women’s Service
  • Children & Young People’s (CYP) Service
  • Young Women, Family Support practitioners
  • Own My Life facilitators

We undertake risk assessments, safety planning and advocacy alongside offering a range of practical support and emotional care.

We aim to offer support to keep women and their families safer whilst enabling healing and recovery from the short, medium and long term effects of a perpetrators abuse.

Contact: info@womensaidorkney.org.uk

01856 877900

ORSAS – COMET+ Sexual Violence Prevention

Individually tailored sexual violence prevention sessions for under 25’s who are Care Experienced and/or YP with Additional Needs. Mirrors the session topics delivered in mainstream schools but with tailored accessibility. The YP’s support worker or a family member also attends sessions on the topics of Consent, Power, Social Media /Pornography, Understanding Sexual Violence, upskilling them to provide long-term support for the YP. Enquiries welcome. It a conflict of interest for ORSAS to support survivors who have also committed acts of violence and coercion.

Contact: Kara Leslie

kara.leslie@orsas.scot

Tel: 01856 872298

Crossroads Young Carers

Crossroads Respite is available to Unpaid Carers to enable them to have a break from their caring role.  Visits can be provided at the Carer/Service Users home or out in the community.  Support Workers are trained, registered with the SSSC and are members of the PVG scheme. The respite service is free of charge and will be determined through an assessment and against the eligibility criteria.

Support can also be provided to those without a Carer.

Contact: carers@crossroadsorkney.co.uk

01856 870500

The Orkney Carers Centre

The Orkney Carers Centre provides emotional support, information and advice, signposting and referring to other services, advocacy, Carer Support Plans, monthly support group, Time to Live Funding, training for unpaid carers, Resource library and some mobility aids for loan and PPE to purchase.

Contact: carers@crossroadsorkney.co.uk

01856 870500

Orkney Young Carers

Orkney Young Carers have a dedicated Support Worker and supports young carers under 18 who have adult caring responsibilities.  

This is achieved through providing confidential support, advice, a listening ear and Young Carer Statements.

Free monthly activities are provided for young carers to meet up and socialise, relax, have fun and to give them a break from their caring role.

One to one support is provided for those who don’t feel comfortable in group settings.

Support is also offered through schools and activities out with school and term time.

Contact: youngcarers@crossroadsorkney.co.uk

01856 870500

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