Health and wellbeing for young people with experience of care

If you need healthcare or health advice you should contact your GP.

You can get help with your mental health and emotional wellbeing on Young Scot’s AyeFeel hub.

Mentoring

Mentoring is when someone provides support, guidance and advice to help you develop your skills and knowledge.

Your teacher, lecturer or social worker may be able to tell you about how to get a mentor in your area.

You can ask mentoring organisations if they have mentors who can support you:

Musicares works with young people with experience of care who want to develop their music skills.

Groups

There are groups where young people with care experience can meet and support each other.

Who Cares? Scotland has a list of groups in Scotland.

Parenting

If you’re a parent and you or your child has experience of care, you might be able to get funded Early Learning and Childcare for your child from 2 years old. This means they could go to a nursery or childminder for free.

If you’re a first time mother you might be able to get help from a specially trained nurse from when you’re pregnant until your child is 2. You can find out more about who can get this support from the Family Nurse Partnership.

The Village is a digital community set up by the Why Not? Trust where parents who have experience of care can get information, access resources and reach out to others.

Get help from your local council

The Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum (STAF) lists local council ‘care leaver offers’. These pages:

  • give information about support you might be able to get from your local council
  • have contact details for people who can help you get support

If you're unsure which council area you're in, you can search by postcode on GOV.UK.

If you need more help

If you need advice or support you can phone or email Who Cares? Scotland.

Back to top