Link in Living
From Lived Experience to Lasting change
Empowering care experienced young people, thier families and supporters.
We know the challenges young people face because we’ve lived them ourselves. That’s why we’re committed to supporting those in, or leaving, local authority care.Through connection, mentoring, and the power of shared experience, we help young people build confidence, break down barriers, and reach their full potential.
Using evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches and relatable role modelling, we help young people overcome barriers and reach their potential. Young people in care often lack relatable support and face significant risks, including poor mental health, homelessness, low educational attainment, and involvement with the criminal justice system. Traditional services can struggle to connect with them. Mentors with lived experience offer relatable guidance, fostering trust and inspiring lasting change. We provide this to Young people aged 12-18.
Our programs build resilience, improve outcomes, and reduce risks like homelessness and criminality. Lived-experience professionals increase engagement, trust, and long-term success while delivering cost-effective support.
At 12, I was placed into care and moved between homes, facing the instability that comes with constant change. A year later, I lost my father, adding deep grief to an already difficult childhood. As a teenager, I struggled to cope and found myself in risky situations, seeking belonging in the wrong places. This led to involvement with the youth offending team, negative peer influences, and substance misuse as I tried to manage overwhelming emotions and trauma.Despite these challenges, the turning point came through the support of lived experience role models who showed me that change was possible. With their encouragement, I broke free from destructive cycles and went on to complete a degree in social work. With years of experience working in drug services, alongside the criminal justice system and working as a support worker and manager in a residential childrens home, I now bring together both professional training and lived experience to support young people who face trauma, ACEs, and substance misuse. Through my CIC, I work alongside others with lived experience to mentor, guide, and inspire young people, helping them to build resilience, develop coping strategies, and believe in their own potential.
Over the past two decades, I’ve supported people facing some of life’s toughest challenges and stigma. With 20 years experience across mental health, addiction, trauma, and family work, I also bring insight as someone who has lived through and worked alongside communities affected by HIV, Domestic violence, addiction and mental health issues. I’m a BACP-accredited integrative counsellor, hold membership with several other professional bodies including the Addiction Professionals network, BABCP, NCBP and Creative counsellors. I’ve delivered training and consultancy for frontline staff, designed trauma-informed programmes for young people, families, different groups and led innovative projects in prisons, rehabs, and other communities. Whether I’m mentoring a young person, coaching a professional, or speaking to a room full of people, my aim is the same: to help others believe that change is possible and give them the tools to make it happen. At Link in Living, we combine real insight and lived experience with evidence-based practice.
What we offer
Therapeutic counselling
We are proud to have a BACP-accredited counsellor within our team, able to provide confidential counselling sessions for young people, families, and staff. Think of it less like therapy and more like a real, supportive discussion. No clipboards or jargon — just a relaxed space where you can talk about what’s going on, share your story, and figure things out together at your own pace. Along the way, we can try out new skills, explore different ways of responding, and practise changes that help you feel more in control of your life.
Youth, family and staff Mentorship
Individualised mentorship programs for personal growth and development. Our mentoring is led by people with first-hand experience of the care system, trauma and other challenges and how to overcome these obstacles. They offer down to earth and relatable guidance, encouragement, and honesty that young people, families and staff members can truly relate to — building confidence and supporting positive change.
Guest Speakers and workshops
We deliver engaging talks and workshops shaped by real lived experience of care, addiction, exploitation and recovery along with many other topics. One of our directors is a qualified social worker who spent time in a residential children’s home, bringing both professional knowledge and personal insight. These sessions inspire fresh perspectives and deeper understanding for young people, families, and professionals.
Training for professionals
Our training combines the expertise of a qualified social worker and a BACP-accredited counsellor — both of whom also have lived experience of not just the care system and addiction but other marginalising challenges including bereavement, exploitation, domestic violence and stigma — together with the voices of our wider volunteer team. This unique blend of professional knowledge and lived insight helps staff build empathy, improve practice, and respond more effectively to the young people and families they support.
Young peoples interactive workshops
We run down-to-earth, interactive groups for young people, covering the issues that matter most: Topics include - Sexual exploitation, Domestic violence, Substance misuse, Mental health, Personal development Relationships Communication skills Emotional management Assertiveness & self-esteem Our approach: Honest, interactive, and down-to-earth — giving young people strategies they can actually use.
Consultations - by phone / online / in-person
Tailored consultation for support workers, frontline staff, managers, and trainers. We provide space to reflect on practice, explore challenges, and develop effective strategies — combining professional expertise with lived experience insight to strengthen confidence and improve outcomes. Please give us a call and whether it is a 10 minute call or a more in-depth discussion we are here to help.
Testimonials
Contact
- Preston, Lancashire, UK
- +44-1772377009 - Office
- theteam@linkinliving.uk
- Mon-Fri - 09:00-18:00
Landline - 01772 377009