Social Finance

Too often Young Carers have to make an impossible choice between their caring responsibilities and their education. At the MYTIME Young Carers Education Summit today our Director Sara Jones (left hand side of photo) shared the stage with Tom Hayes MP, who spoke about his own childhood caring for both his parents and how it has inspired him to champion Young Carers. Krista Cartlidge the CEO of MYTIME Young Carers highlighted some of the concerning statistics from their new report, Overlooked and Overburdened: Addressing the Educational Challenges Faced By Young Carers (link in comments) with the audience of headteachers & Young Carer Champions, including: 🔹 40% of young carers experience suspensions during their schooling—more than double the rate of their peers at just 17% 🔹 Young carers in secondary school are less likely to pass GCSE English and Maths, and significantly less likely to achieve the highest scores (5+ and 7+). Commenting on the report Sara said "The case studies set out here clearly demonstrate by correctly identifying Young Carers, schools are able not only to understand their needs but can also unlock their skills and creativity. Social Finance and our partners in the Early Inclusion Collective support the recommendations made by MYTIME in this report, as together we work to build safer systems for children". Ofsted Football Without Borders OneChild The Henry Smith Charity Meg Kelly Tom Rintoul Tanveer Sian Adam Swersky Nadine Smith Allegory Communications #childrenandyoungpeople #youngcarers #youngpeople

We've all had a weekend to digest the Budget news, but at Social Finance we're incredibly excited by the government's announcement that it's setting up a social impact investment vehicle to help achieve its mission. 💼 Social Finance has been mobilising social investment to tackle complex and enduring challenges in society, both in the UK and globally, since our founding in 2007. We passionately believe in the power of social investment to drive better outcomes. That's why we launched the worlds first Social Impact Bond, now known as a social outcomes contract, in 2010. Today, we're still pioneering social investing in areas such as health and social care to drive transformation of services, better outcomes for people and communities, and improved value for the state. At a time when government needs to make the best use of every pound, this initiative is an incredibly exciting way of unlocking capital to change systems and change lives. #socialinvesting #impactinvesting #outcomes #impactinvesting #outcomescontracts Adam Swersky Nadine Smith Katy Saunders

✨ Happy Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas to all celebrating!

Caring for a relative is hard. It's especially hard when you are a child. Across education and wellbeing, the outcomes for Young Carers can be significantly worse when compared to young people without caring responsibilities. In our systems change work for children and young people - the Early Inclusion Collective and the Missing Data Unit - we recognise that young carers are part of a wider group of 'invisible' children. When children are 'invisible', they don't appear in the data - which in turn prevents systems from changing.  Over the next week, Social Finance and our partners MYTIME Young Carers are focusing attention on how young carers can be identified and better supported. On Wednesday 6th November our Director Sara Jones will join Krista Cartlidge, CEO of MYTIME Young Carers on stage at their Education Summit - an event in Bournemouth for teachers and headteachers working with young carers. In her talk Sara will: 🔹 set out the thinking behind Social Finance's Early Inclusion Collective 🔹 reveal key insights from Social Finance's latest report - a blueprint for creating safety in data for young carers 🔹 demonstrate how collective frontline action can really change systems MYTIME's report 'Overlooked and Overburdened: Addressing the Educational Challenges Faced by Young Carers' will be also launched at the event. If you are a Young Carer's Champion or a headteacher, or senior leader working with young carers in education, we'd love you to attend this event. Please use the QR code to book your seat. Tanveer Sian Meg Kelly Nadine Smith Katy Saunders Caroline Gadd Adam Swersky Carers Trust Department for Education Tom Rintoul Chris Owen The Henry Smith Charity Paul Hamlyn Foundation #youngcarers

Social Finance came together to tune in to the UK’s budget speech by Chancellor Rt Hon Rachel Reeves. A shared moment of focus on the nation’s priorities and implications for our work. #UKBudget

Tomorrow's budget will involve 'difficult decisions' according to the Chancellor, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves, and many are taking that to mean budget cuts across all areas. But as our Director, Katy Saunders, argues in her blog, whilst our focus on lack of resources is understandable, it has also stopped many of us from thinking creatively when it comes to finance. Katy describes how being wedded to traditional funding approaches in the health and social care sector has led to what she calls 'pilotitus'. A situation in which significant resource is directed into the duplication and replication of services and‘new ideas’, overlooking the myriad of robust, community-based offers that already exist and that are often fighting to be sustained. 15 months ago, together with The Dunhill Medical Trust and Alzheimer's Society, we embarked on a 15-month programme to rethink how we fund social care sustainably. Our report 'Taking an outcomes focussed approach to improving care for older people with dementia and other needs' was launched at a learning community event on 3rd October 2024. At the event, there was broad consensus around one of the report's main conclusions — namely that there is an urgent need to explore alternative funding mechanisms, including but not limited to social investment. Next steps? We’re convening a funder roundtable on November 21st to bring together those committed to reshaping investment in critical services. If you're a value-aligned funder eager to drive real change, please get in touch. Let’s build a future where impactful services aren’t just piloted but sustained. Adam Swersky Nadine Smith fleur taylor-sutton Rachel Jones Prerana Kaneri #UKBudget #socialinvestment #dementia #healthandsocialcare

Just after the election we asked the new government to deliver on its promise to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), ensuring no child is left behind. In response to yesterday's UK National Audit Office (NAO) report, which said that the SEND system is financially broken and “in urgent need of reform”, Schools Minister Catherine McKinnell pledged that “huge and complex” reform is on its way. However, both she and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson made it clear that there are no quick fixes and reform will happen "in due course" But children & young people and their families cannot afford to wait. As we set out in our blog (link in the comments), it's essential that we seize the opportunity to make this the start of a new era for children with SEND. Learning from our work in this space, both with Local Authorities and the The Henry Smith Charity, we also know that support cannot be allowed to drop off a cliff edge when young people transition into adulthood. Our research into the impact of advocacy support services has shown that supporting those with learning disabilities and autistic people to make their voices heard is essential if they are to access the services they need to live independent and fulfilling lives. Tom Davies Sara Jones Nadine Smith Tanyah Hameed Fergus Hamilton #Advocacy #SEND #Childrenandyoungpeople

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To mark #BlackHistoryMonth and to celebrate our partnership with the Caribbean & African Health Network (CAHN), the Social Finance team gathered on masse (both in person and online) yesterday to hear an inspiring talk by CAHN's Chief Executive Charles Kwaku-Odoi DL MFPH. CAHN was founded in 2017 with a vision to eradicate health inequalities and wider disparities for Caribbean and African communities within a generation. Charles listed just a few of those stark disparities, including: ● Black people are 2 times more likely to have a stroke  ● Fibroids are 3 times more likely to occur in Black women  ● Black people are 3 times more likely to suffer neonatal death As Charles said in his talk, while it's important to have the data that shows where health inequalities exist, it's just as important to know what action to take to reduce those inequalities. And that's where CAHN has been so successful. In addition to providing a wide range of services and support networks, CAHN has focussed on building partnerships with organisations, including Social Finance, to ensure Caribbean and African communities have a seat at the table and can help drive change across health and social care systems. As an example of the impact CAHN is having, Charles highlighted his role in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan consultation launched on Monday by Rt. Hon. Wes Streeting MP, explaining that he will be part of one of the work streams on health inequalities. To find out more about the incredible work CAHN is doing - click on the link in the comments section. Bunmi Iyere Mike Clarke Katy Saunders Nadine Smith Rachelle Angeline Kristin Hadland

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