Lifelong Links

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What is it?

Building lasting relationships for young people in care and those leaving care. It helps find and bring together people who care about you. This can be people you know well, people you have not seen for a while (like a former teacher or carer) and even relatives who you have not yet met.

A vlog on Lifelong Links - What it is and why it is needed (youtube.com) 

Lifelong Links helps to find and bring together people who care about you.  

You can: 

  • reconnect with family members and other trusted adults in a safe way. This could be people you already know, such as your former teachers and foster carers, or people you haven't seen for a while, or relatives you've never met
  • learn about your family history 
  • It can provide you with supportive, stable relationships during and after your time in care. 

Lifelong Links: Parice and Nicky's story (youtube.com) 

Can I take part?

You can take part in Lifelong Links if you: 

What happens next? 

We'll allocated a Lifelong Links Coordinator to work with you.    They will: 

  1. Talk to you about who you want to build relationships with. 
  2. Using different tools, help you learn more about your background. This might include drawing a family tree, where you have lived and where you go to school. 
  3. Try to meet with your parents or guardians to find the people you want to have in your life, if it is safe to do so. 
  4. Always keep you, your carer and your social worker updated on their progress. 
  5. Arrange a Lifelong Links Family Group Conference or Celebration Event with you and all the people who care about you.

Our coordinators are independent and don't make decisions about your future. 

Lifelong Links celebration event 

Your Lifelong Links coordinator will invite you, your carer and social worker, family and friends to the conference to create a realistic plan on how to support you.  

FRG Lifelong Links Film - YouTube 

Lifelong Links is all about connecting you with those who care about you. It can help you: 

Reconnect with family members and other trusted adults in a safe environment. This might include people you're familiar with, those you haven't seen in a while, or even relatives you've never had the chance to meet. 

Discover more about your family's story and history. 

Lifelong Links aims to provide you with strong, supportive relationships after your time in care, offering stability and understanding along the way. 

Can I take part? 

You can take part in Lifelong Links if you are leaving care, or a care experienced young adult aged between 18-25. 

If you're interested in taking part, you can self-refer to our Lifelong Links service by emailing our service on [email protected] or contacting the team via WhatsApp on 07739315446.  Your social worker, keyworker, personal Advisor or an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) can also make referrals to Lifelong Links on your behalf. 

Lifelong Links 4 Care Leavers (youtube.com) 

What happens next? 

We'll assign you a Lifelong Links coordinator who will: 

  1. Help you explore your family history using timelines and family trees to identify who you want to reconnect with.  
  2. Support you in strengthening your relationships and organising meet ups with your chosen network, whether at 'family celebrations' or smaller, individual gatherings. 
  3. Develop a Lifelong Links Plan to outline the support your network offers. Your coordinator will always ask for your permission before they speak to people and will regularly review this plan with you and your network. 
  4. Create a Journey Book for you containing your genogram, plan, photos, messages, and important details about your life. 

Independent Coordinator will work at a pace which suits you. You'll never have to talk about anything you don't want to and there's no pressure to continue with the programme if you don't want to. 

Next steps for our service

While we can't promise there won't be challenges, coordinators work hard to minimise them. They provide you and your social worker/ Personal Advisor with regular updates, and work with family to manage expectations and come up with realistic support plans.  

We are planning to introduce regular online Lifelong Links support groups to all interested Children in Care and Care Leavers. If setbacks occur, this can assist you to talk things through. Lifelong Links support groups give you the chance to meet other people in similar situations. You can invite along your Personal Advisor for support and chat to a Lifelong Links coordinator. You don't need to be signed up to Lifelong Links to attend. 

Last updated: 7 March 2025