Care Experience Ally

I don't think that any social mobility discussion is complete without reference to care-experienced young people.

Recent statistics show that young people aged 19-21 in England with experience of the care system are three and a half times more likely than all other children to be not in education, employment, or training (NEET).

The flip side: I have seen care-experienced young people recruited into top law firms as solicitor apprentices and qualify to become successful in their field of law. That is a pretty great example of social mobility for the bright young people AND for the law firm recruitment of some serious talent with unique and impressive qualities that many of us do not have.

That is why a personal focus for me is raising awareness among care-experienced young people about the opportunities offered by solicitor apprenticeships. To do this I volunteer for Lawyers Who Care and Become .

To mark Social Mobility Day 2025 I recorded a podcast with Gemma Creamer, the CEO of Lawyers Who Care, all about shifting mindsets:

Lawyers Who Care is run by care-experienced lawyers for care-experienced aspiring solicitors and barristers. Law firms can join as mentor organisations (Mayer Brown and Mishcon de Reya are on board as examples) or perhaps you may wish to offer your office client spaces for mentor and mentee training (as Freshfields and Burges Salmon have done). Use the Contact function on the Lawyers Who Care website to get in touch with the wonderful team there!

I am a proud mentor organisation for Lawyers Who Care and introduced my mentee this summer to the charity Justice and Care, Osborne Clarke and Trowers & Hamlins.

I feel honoured to have been asked to present for the charity, and am a proud champion of their work.

I would be delighted to introduce your organisation to these charities, or you may wish to look into how you as employer can sign your organisation up to the Government Care Leaver Covenant, as I have done.

Or you may wish to sign up to the Moving on Up Network which is free to join for - you can join through the Amazing Apprenticeships website.

Did you know the government is making up to £12,000 available, plus training and assessment costs, to support care experienced apprentices?
This includes:

£3,000 tax-free bursary for the apprentice
£1,000 in payments to the employer (up to £3,000 in foundation apprenticeships)
£1,000 training provider payments
£2,000 SME payment
£3,000 Universal Credit hiring incentive

Bethany Taylor is the first care-experienced solicitor to qualify via a solicitor apprenticeship, and is now a successful property litigator at a large global law firm. Beth is an Advisory Board member to the Care Leaver Covenant, and won a Special Recognition Award at the Government Apprenticeship and Skills Awards 2025. (She is also my friend!)