Jade Barnett Supports Care Leavers Following Personal Experience

Jade Barnett, who entered the care system at age 15 and was relocated 260 miles from her south-east London home, stated, “I have used my pain for purpose.” Ms. Barnett, 24, from Lewisham, currently provides support to young individuals whom she describes as “constantly being failed” by the care system. Ms. Barnett is a co-founder of Power2Prevail Community, an organization that has received £8,000 for an upcoming project aimed at assisting young people with essential life skills, such as financial literacy. Ms. Barnett commented, “I know it will still be a tough journey, but I want them to be equipped to make the next transition into their community.” Her social enterprise focuses on aiding young people with care experience and students facing potential exclusion. She stated, “I want young people to see that there’s more to life than what’s presented to them.” Ms. Barnett added, “Now I live and breathe working to support young people, I have used my pain for purpose. The system constantly fails children; we need to be the change that we want to see.” Ms. Barnett recounted being relocated to Blackpool shortly before her GCSE examinations, stating she felt she was “destined for failure.” She explained, “I first entered the care system in London.” She continued, “I went to six different schools, a pupil referral unit, and lived in foster care in Birmingham before being put in a black cab and moved to Blackpool, crying all the way. I was told I would be there for two weeks and was there 18 months. I was labelled and judged and was constantly put in situations where I felt I was destined for failure. There were no people like me in Blackpool, and I had to fight to not lose my identity. I was a young person who loved to learn and did well despite being in care, not because of it.” The Funding Futures Programme, a collaborative fund involving Unltd, Co-op Foundation, and Phoenix Group, granted Ms. Barnett £8,000 to initiate a new program for young individuals. She noted, “The course is based on my own lived experiences of my transition to independence.” Ms. Barnett elaborated, “When you turn 18 and you’re in the system, you are being pushed out. Care leavers don’t get quality support to understand the realities of the world. So we will support young people with managing finances, cooking, self-love, staying safe, loneliness and mental health, and building a pathway to further education or employment.”