Many of us take the support and care we receive from our parents and family members for granted but, sadly, hundreds of people across Wales do not have this same support network. Of course one of the groups that most struggle with this lack of familial support – which can cause them to feel isolated and out-of-place or cause them to struggle navigating daily life as they grow up – is young people and those who have lived or spent some time in care while growing up.
While there is plenty of support available for children and teenagers in care, including from social workers, youth workers, and young people's organisations, there's very little support available for care-experienced adolescents as they grow up and become adults and for care-experienced adults in their early 20s who are perhaps still reeling from their time in care during their teenage years.
But one inspiring woman is hoping to change all that. Helen Davies from Killay in Swansea is the founder and director of Sunflower Lounge, a social enterprise that's supporting care-experienced young adults across Wales – particularly from Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Powys and Carmarthenshire – as they learn to navigate adult life independently.
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Helen, a qualified teacher who has worked with and supported care-experienced young people across south Wales for more than a decade, set up the social enterprise in 2021 as an organisation that young people who have experienced living in care could turn to for guidance, support, and practical advice. Sunflower Lounge prides itself on helping young adults who have left care "navigate the transition into adult life" and "learn how to live and work independently," she said. And it now has a permanent space in Neath town centre.
Unassuming from the outside, the Sunflower Lounge in Charleston House is a cosy and welcoming space for care-experienced young people where they can take part in specially-crafted workshops to help them learn the key skills they need to succeed in adult life. It also provides a safe space where they can come to take a step away from the challenges and stresses of their lives at home and be around like-minded people to socialise, relax, and make new friends.
Speaking to WalesOnline previously Helen explained: "Young people in care are given lots of support when they're young but the support drops off when they're older. Sometimes these young people are flung out into the real world with no experience making decisions for themselves or knowing how to cook, clean, wash clothes, or manage their money.
"Sometimes these young people will become homeless as they have nowhere to live and find it difficult to hold down a job. Many have had chaotic lives [in care] – how can they be a successful adult completely on their own? [As young people leave care] their social anxiety goes through the roof – they don't have a parent figure to support them."
Over the last two years the Sunflower Lounge's offerings have grown and grown and the enterprise has recently benefited from a £100,000 grant from the National Lottery Community Fund Wales enabling it to provide more opportunities at its first permanent base, which it moved into on April 1.
"The young people are at the heart of everything we do – we walk beside the young person to identify their strengths, needs, and goals," Helen said. "Our primary objective is to support the young people through education into employment and living independently, feeling connected and supported within their local community.
"We previously had £10,000 from a lottery grant and recently received £100,000 of funding through the National Lottery Community Fund Wales' nurturing growth project, which is funding our sessions three mornings a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, for young people who have had experience of the care system, whether that's from living in foster care, residential care or kinship care [living with family members in an unofficial or official capacity]. We're also open at other times for organised sessions and drop-ins."
Explaining what the Sunflower Lounge offers at its new base in Neath, Helen added: "We offer one-to-one and small group sessions and so much of what we do is about helping the young people come together and be part of something – to not feel alone. We offer stability and consistency when everything else is changing for them. They're moving into adulthood and that might mean transitioning to college, changing where they live, or living by themselves for the first time and it often means changing their social worker team as well.
"So we offer something that's consistent, that's stable and there for them. There's three main areas we cover: wellbeing, education and employment, and independent living skills. We have funding for the next two years and I'm already looking at how we can grow and develop after that."
The Sunflower Lounge, given its name by some of the young people it supports, particularly helps young people leaving care who are feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of living alone for the first time or nervous about having to care for themselves and make decisions for themselves without family or relatives to guide them. Among the workshops available members can learn about budgeting and paying bills, cooking on a budget, and how to prepare for a job interview or first day at work.
But the lounge is more than just a classroom – it's a home away from home. Aria, 24, who regularly visits The Sunflower Lounge, told us: "Coming here it's like going from being alone to being in a family." Morgan, 22, said he enjoys coming to the lounge as it provides a welcome distraction and a "break" from everything else going on in his life and is somewhere he can go to for support or to celebrate good news with people who are pleased for him.
Sunflower Lounge is well-connected, with strong working relationships with local organisations and local area coordinators as well as further education providers and higher education providers across Wales. The organisation also works closely with Reaching Wider South West and Reaching Wider North and Mid Wales Partnership as well as Swansea Council and Neath Port Talbot Council. Helen is working to establish connections with further organisations and education providers in Wales with the hope they could offer workshops or other opportunities for the Sunflower Lounge's young people.
"We want the young people to feel that this is 'our lounge,' 'our place,'" Helen said. "No-one else is offering this sort of thing – it's really needed for the young people and I'm really proud of how far we've come."
Local area coordinator Emma Jones added: "It's much-needed – it's exactly what care-experienced young people need. A place to feel safe, be safe, and be supported to achieve their best potential."
If you, or someone you know, previously spent time in care and you think you/they would benefit from spending time at the Sunflower Lounge and getting involved in its workshops and social sessions get in touch with Helen or her colleagues via the Sunflower Lounge's page on Facebook.
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