Support for care experienced students to be enhanced beyond graduation

Plans have been revealed by LJMU to enhance their support of care experienced and estranged students beyond graduation with financial help and mentoring, thanks to a donation of £50,000.

Honorary fellow and alumni Gary Millar made the generous donation earlier this year via the Cornerstones Foundation - a unique local charity that exists to make a difference to the lives of young people in Liverpool by helping them create the future they want and deserve.

Gary grew up in care with his two brothers and made the donation in memory of his brother Leslie who passed away in 2022.  

Gary has been working closely with the university to discuss how the donation should be used to enhance its existing provision which already provides students with support prior to applying for university, right through their studies and even continues after graduation, ranging from financial help to year-round accommodation.

During a visit to campus in National Care Leavers’ Week (28 October to 3 November 2024), it was confirmed that the fund will further help to bridge the gap, or the ‘care cliff’, for students as they leave the university and begin the next stage in their lives and careers.

Gary met with Colette Quail, Development Manager with Corporate Communications and Stakeholder Relations; Billie-Gina Thomason, Inclusion Adviser with Student Advice and Wellbeing; Yvonne Turnbull, Director of Student Advice and Wellbeing; and Jo Bleasdale, Inclusion Services Manager with Student Advice and Wellbeing.  

Yvonne Turnbull, Director of Student Advice and Wellbeing at LJMU, said: “Our care experienced students regularly discuss how the period leading up to graduation can be more complicated for them as statutory and other external support will usually end as they leave university and look for graduate employment.

“Our Student Advice and Wellbeing Services currently provide individualised support to final year care experienced and estranged students through one-to-one advice and guidance, extended accommodation tenancies and support with the cost of graduation. In addition, many students choose to remain in contact with staff in Student Advice and Wellbeing in the months following graduation.

“We now plan to further enhance this support by using Gary’s kind donation to provide additional funding that might pay for a graduate’s rental deposit or to cover the costs of clothing and travel for job interviews. In addition, we are looking to appoint a graduate intern with their own personal experience of the care system to develop ongoing mentoring opportunities. This would focus on two strands of mentoring. Firstly, on peer mentoring, matching recent care experienced and estranged graduates with new students as they make the transition to higher education study, and then on pathway mentoring, matching final year care experienced and estranged students with an appropriate alumni mentor with relevant industry or lived experience, supporting the transition out of the university and into the world of work.”

More about LJMU’s support for care leavers through the Imagine Programme

The support for LJMU students who have been in care is named the Imagine Programme, initially established in 2009 with a gift from Yoko Ono in her late husband’s name. John Lennon was a student at the LJMU art school in the late-1950s and was brought up in the care of his aunt Mimi, following the death of his mother.

The Imagine Programme has become a beacon of good practice in higher education and has received national recognition.

National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL) Quality Mark

In 2022, LJMU was the first of only four institutions to be awarded the National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL) Quality Mark.

The benchmark acknowledges the inclusion and success of care experienced students at LJMU – the first university outside of the initial pilot scheme to receive the award.

LJMU was rated as ‘enhanced’ for all areas and ‘exceptional’ in the case of how it relates to students before they begin their studies, reflecting the joined-up approach to access and support from recruitment and admissions a well as advice and wellbeing services.

Support care leavers at LJMU

Anybody wishing to support the Imagine Programme can contact the university by email or by ringing 0151 231 3292.