The Ferntree Support

We provide secure accommodation and support to vulnerable young people on their path to independent living.

Who We Are

The Ferntree is an Ofsted registered Supported Accommodation, which provides support and accommodation to vulnerable 16–18 year-old young people. We have services in Luton, Central Bedfordshire, Bedford, Leicestershire, and West Midlands. Our Supported Accommodation living opportunities provides support for young people with low, medium to high level needs. We provide accommodation and support for care leavers and young people that are looked after by the local authority and are considered vulnerable. The Ferntree is committed to providing a secure, homely environment where young people can feel safe and have their individual needs met. We seek to produce best services for the young people that are in our care whilst they transition to independent living. The key to our success lies in our ability to respond to the individual needs of our young people. We involve the young people in designing their support and delivery of the services by listening to their voices, wishes and feelings. For each referral received by the placement manager, a risk assessment is conducted to find out if the placement can meet the needs of the young person being referred and that accepting the referral will not disrupt the stability of the young people already living in the placement. A Matching Policy is implemented when considering new referrals.

About Us

Ferntree Support empowers vulnerable young people to transition to independent living through a secure, structured environment and collaboration with key stakeholders, focusing on education, safety, and personal growth.

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Our Mission Statement

To give young people and young adults in our service a structured stimulating environment by providing a stable home where they can live securely and independently whilst we assist them to get education, training or employment and acquire self-care skills aimed at preparing the young people for successful transition into adulthood.

Our Services

Ferntree Support offers tailored key-work sessions and therapeutic support to help young people build life skills, secure housing, and gain independence. We provide both shared and solo accommodation with flexible care packages to ensure a safe, supportive transition to adulthood.

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Collaboration With Stakeholders

The Ferntree work with other professionals to support young people’s pathway plans so that they are best placed to achieve results and positive outcomes. The Ferntree addresses issues related to safeguarding including Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), Child Criminal Exploitation/County Lines, Modern Slavery and missing from care issues that may emerge with any young people in placement.We work in partnership with other stakeholders such as the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), Social Workers, NHS, Colleges, Police, Home Office, Immigration Solicitors, Refugee Council, Red Cross, Youth Justice Team, NSPCC, Barnardo’s, and several others to protect our young people from harm, abuse, and risk of exploitation. Working together approach helps the professionals to identify problems earlier before they escalate by sharing information. If a young person is experiencing trauma which might lead to placement break down, we will work with lead professional to undertake a multi-agency approach to agree a plan of action to support the young person to maintain the placement.

About us

Our service users include:

Child Looked After (CLA) and care leavers aged 16 to 18 years or up to 24 years in some cases.
Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) aged 16 and 18 years.
UASC 18 to 21 years with no recourse to public funds subject to a Human Rights assessment.
Young people who are homeless aged 16 and 17 years.
Young people remanded through the youth justice system aged 16 and 17 years.

Our Mission Statement

Our Vision

Support young people on their pathway plans to independence through offering a caring home environment that provides structure, stability and security, whilst focusing on their transition to adulthood.
We aim to be honest and open to deliver a service that enable young people to succeed and grow within society.
We aim to support and prepare young people to make an effective transition to independent living.
To assist young people to get the education, training, or employment they want to prepare them for adult life.
Work alongside other stakeholders and professionals like police, social workers, health sector, NSPCC, Barnados, Youth Justice Team to safeguard young people falling prey to sexual and criminal exploitation/ County Lines.
Provide a safe environment where vulnerable young people reflect on their experiences, stabilize their behavior, regain control and find better coping mechanisms.
To enable young people to be empowered to make choices and decisions in all areas of their lives by listening to their voice.
Make young people aware that they have the right to be healthy, happy, safe, and secure, and to feel loved, valued, and respected.
Support UASC to overcome culture and language barriers in an effort to integrate them into the community.
Preserve and support the vulnerable young person’s links with their own community by working in partnership with their parents, carers, and those with parental responsibility.
Ensure non-discriminatory practices in accordance with our Equal Opportunities Policy.
Ensure that all staff receive ongoing training, support, and guidance to enable them to support the young people to the best of their ability.
Maintaining tenancy by meeting deadlines for bill payments

Safeguarding our young people

The Ferntree will seek to safeguard children and young people by:

Adopting child protection guidelines through policies and procedures.
Recruiting staff safely by implementing Safer Recruitment Policy.
Working Together with other professionals to share information and minimise safeguarding concerns.
Sharing information about child protection and good practice with children, parents, and staff.
Promote a safeguarding culture which protects not only the vulnerable young person we support but also for our staff.
Staff to be vigilant as to what is happening around themselves and the young people.
Be aware of the different types and indicators of abuse. Further information is available in the staff handbook.
Staff to take safeguarding awareness training as appropriate to their role at the induction session.
Requiring all staff to follow the reporting and recording procedures in every case of suspected abuse or disclosed abuse.
Ensuring that all staff with responsibility or contact with young people are provided with appropriate policies, guidance, training, and support to enable them to implement this policy.

Our Services

How We Support Young People

Our staff support young people reach their potential through flexible and personalised key-work sessions and therapeutic support packages. We support young people to develop independent life skills needed to increase their ability to secure permanent housing, gain employment and be fully independent as they transition into adulthood. We do our best to support young people by using a variety of methods to record, monitor and communicate to help us understand how to identify alternative approaches should it be needed. We attend meetings with our young people, support them to appointments and encourage positive behaviour towards all professionals. We provide monthly reports to social services, feedback and attendance at Child Looked After (CLA) and Personal Education Plan (PEP) reviews and maintain contact through emails, phone and face to face meetings.

Shared Accommodation

At Ferntree, shared accommodation is available for a young person who is ready and able to live successfully with others. Shared accommodation may be for 4-6 young people. A strict matching policy is used when placing the young people together to protect them from posing risk to each other.Young people have their own bedrooms but share bathroom and living facilities. Overnight staff have their own bedroom and own bathroom facilities where applicable.

Solo Living Accommodation

A young person is not yet ready for shared accommodation. These will be young people who require their own living space and support staff because their level of need precludes them from living safely alongside other young people.For those young people that require additional support due to challenging behaviour and gang affiliation we offer 24-hour support, and 1:1 and 2:1 packages of care in solo accommodation.

Equality and Diversity Policy

The Ferntree believes in equality and diversity. Any form of discrimination on the grounds of age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, culture, race, language, religion, belief, and sexual orientation will not be tolerated. Any incidents of discrimination involving young people will be notified immediately to the social worker of the responsible local authority, Ofsted and any necessary further action will be taken. Where the incident involves The Ferntree staff, appropriate actions will be taken and could result in dismissal. Fair and equitable treatment will apply regardless of any young person’s racial, ethnic, or national heritage, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, spiritual beliefs, disability, or health status in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

Young people are supported in the following areas as part of their pathway plans:

Young People are supported:

- With advice and support to manage the safety and security of new accommodation
- To understand refuse and recycling process
- To understand importance of being a good housemate and good neighbour
- With guidance on local services within the locality
- Where applicable, to live in a shared house
- Where applicable, to respect the diversity of all Young People placed with them to understand and respect different cultures and lifestyles, including issues relating to gender, sexuality, religion, and disability

Young People are supported:

- To use safely all big and small electrical appliances
- To do laundry by displaying ability to wash and iron clothing
- To shop on a budget for food, cleaning, and household items
- To prepare healthy meal plans, preparation and cooking of food, and storage of food, checking expiry dates
- To carry out household cleaning tasks and purchase appropriate cleaning materials
- To maintain the home in a good standard of cleanliness and tidiness
- To maintain the tidiness and cleanliness of communal areas

Young People are supported:

- To understand service utilities, including their efficient and most economic use
- To budget and manage money, including debt advice
- To understand the process for paying bills and the consequences of not paying bills
- To support UASC with mastering different currency and denominations
- To work out a budget based on their weekly allowance

Young People are supported:

- To access education/college, work placements, or employment
- To attend appointments, including college and employment interviews
- To use computers, Wi-Fi, and other resources to support their education and employment prospects
- To prepare a CV, encourage, and offer guidance when needing interview tips
- UASC will be enrolled in college for ESOL classes. Our staff will offer extra support to settle them in the new environment
- To encourage young people not in education, training, or employment by giving other options, e.g., choosing practical courses like building, property decoration, modeling, hairdressing, etc.

Young People are supported:

- To register with a doctor, dentist, and opticians
- To attend appointments with medical professionals, including hospital appointments
- To access substance misuse services if required
- To promote personal health and living a healthy lifestyle
- To introduce UASC to some home remedies bought over the counter

Young People are supported:

- To discuss any personal or emotional concerns and are signposted to appropriate services, e.g., CAMHS
- To access legal advice, e.g., UASC getting immigration lawyers to support them with asylum applications
- With appointments with UK Border Agency when appropriate, appearing in court
- With integration and community cohesion
- To build resilience in managing uncertain futures during the immigration process
- To access social activities in the local area or beyond

Young People are supported:

- To prepare for moving, when appropriate, to their own tenancy
- To explore housing options for independent living
- To bid on properties where appropriate
- With small DIY tasks, i.e., hanging curtains, blinds, changing light bulbs
- To set up utilities in a new home, i.e., gas, electricity, water
- To place their name on the electoral roll
- To manage the safety and security of their new home, e.g., door and window locks, smoke alarms, etc.
- To understand refuse and recycling processes
- To understand the importance of being a good neighbor
- To access local services within the locality
- To ensure they have all documentation in place to enable access to benefits, employment, and housing at age 18
- To refresh life skills previously learned throughout preparation for independence
- To ensure all benefits, including council tax relief, are set up immediately prior to their 18th birthday as appropriate

Young People are supported:

- To maintain their culture and religion, i.e., if they want to go to a specific place of worship, attend a special group, or go to a celebration
- To acquire resources, such as a Bible, Koran, prayer mats, etc., to enhance the young people’s beliefs
- To encourage young people to celebrate their religious festivals or traditional events

As much as we would love for our young people to stay with The Ferntree, there will come a time (usually at age 18) when young people must live independently. The Ferntree Support will offer support and guidance to take the next step, whether this is into their own accommodation or 18+ shared accommodation.

- Moving into The Ferntree Support’s own 18+ accommodation for continuity of support
- Guidance on the opportunities available and how to contact other housing providers
- Provide a reference or supporting letter to a chosen housing authority
- Help complete housing application forms and bid for suitable properties
- Visit potential housing options and submit a bid for the property
- Purchase furniture and household items ready for moving on
- Help on the day to move out
- Outreach support for six weeks after moving out