Search our website. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, get in touch at: hello@wearebluecabin.com.
Young people leaving care are navigating one of the most important transitions of their lives, yet often without the structured support to explore their identity, make sense of their past, and imagine their future.
Life Story Work is a tool that can support care experienced young people on this journey. While there are various models and approaches to Life Story Work, there remains a significant lack of life story resources designed specifically for care leavers.
Blue Cabin, in partnership with Mary-anne Hodd, a care- experienced independent consultant and Therapeutic Life Story Work Practitioner, is leading a three-year project focused on Life Story Work for young people aged 16-25 who are leaving care.
Funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the project will begin by exploring what currently exists, identifying gaps and opportunities, and deepening our understanding of how Life Story Work can meaningfully support care-experienced young people. It will then move into developing new resources and shining a light on Life Story Work approaches designed specifically to support care leavers through this important stage of life.
Over the three years:
Our aim is to:
Mary-anne Hodd guested on the Creative Life Story Work podcast to share an insight into Between Chapters, explaining what the project will focus on and sharing her own advice for other care leavers who are interested in life story work.
In the first year of Between Chapters we have undertaken an exploratory process – researching what currently exists in the sector in relation to life story work for care leavers, how practitioners feel about this topic, and unearthing further lines of enquiry to pursue in years two and three.
As part of our research we have:
Through this work we have uncovered nine key themes to consider in relation to life story work for care leavers. A brief summary is provided in our Year One Summary report which you can read and download below.
Together, we want to shape practice that centres care leavers, honours their stories, and supports their future. If you’re someone committed to supporting care-experienced young people in making sense of their stories, we’d love to have a conversation. Whether you’d like to share your experiences, contribute ideas, or help shape what we build next, we want to hear from you.
If you would like to have a conversation with us about this work, please fill in our Expression of Interest form. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Freya Gill-Stevens at: freya@wearebluecabin.com.
This project is funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
