What is Lifelong Links
Lifelong Links is a service developed by the Family Rights Group to help any young person who is care experienced to have the opportunity to build strong, lasting relationships with people who are important to them.
Our aims
With Lifelong Links in Devon, we aim to:
- help care experienced young people build more lasting, supportive relationships by reconnecting with people they may have lost contact with
- support these young people to understand more about their identity
By creating a network of support, we aim to:
- reduce the number of times young people end up moving
- support young people with their emotional and mental wellbeing
- improve long-term outcomes for young people, including access to training and employment opportunities
How does Lifelong Links work
Our Lifelong Links coordinators work closely with each young person to find and reconnect them with family members or other important people who care about them and want to stay in their lives.
The young person is at the heart of everything we do. Their voice guides the process, and they help shape their own support network.
Once these key people have been identified, we will try to contact them to see if they would like to be reconnected with the young person and offered a Lifelong Links meeting.
Lifelong Links meetings
This is an opportunity to come together with the aim of creating a long-term support plan and celebrate the connections being made. Young people decide what they want their meetings to look like and who is invited.
The coordinator writes up a Lifelong Links plan and shares it with everyone involved. It then becomes part of the young person’s care plan.
Who can access Lifelong Links in Devon
Any young person who is in care or has care experience up to the age of 25.
If you are an adult who has been contacted by the Lifelong Links team
We may get in touch with you because you are important to a young person and they want to find you, or it may be that a young person does not wish to actually make contact but has identified you as someone who may know the answers to some of their questions about their heritage.
We would really appreciate it if you could take the time to respond to us, either by replying to the message or by phoning the coordinator who will have left their mobile number with you.
Please note that there will be limited information we can share with you over email or messenger and we may need to use our secure email platform ‘Egress’ to communicate via email.
By responding to us, you could make a real positive difference to a young person’s life.
Want to refer someone or learn more?
If you know a young person who could benefit from Lifelong Links, we’d love to hear from you. Young people can also self-refer. Contact our team at lifelonglinks@devon.gov.uk.
The Lifelong Links team
Jeanette Memmott – Team Manager
Jeanette.memmott@devon.gov.uk
Rachel England – Lifelong Links Coordinator
Rachel.england@devon.gov.uk
Jamie Masters – Lifelong Links Coordinator
Jamie.masters@devon.gov.uk
Samantha Cude – Lifelong Links Coordinator
samantha.cude@devon.gov.uk