Northampton company ‘incredibly proud’ after winning national award for supporting care leavers

A Northampton-based supported living provider has received a national award for its work to help care leavers transition to independent living.

WiSupport, based in Northampton town centre, provides support and accommodation to local children in care and care leavers.

The company - set up in 2019 by founders Nathan Stewart, James Sterling and Reiss Mothersille - has now been recognised nationally after being announced as a ‘Leaving Care’ category award winner in the National Children and Young People’s Awards on Thursday, October 6.

Nathan, 28, told Chronicle & Echo that the three co-founders are “incredibly proud and humbled” to have received this award.

He continued: “We are passionate about making a difference and being relatable with our young people. I know it is a cliche but, from when we set the company up, we have a highly diverse team.

“We are three young Caribbean boys really - we set this company up at 24 years old and, for us to be positive role models to young people looking up to us, it is a big thing for us.”

It is the role of staff at WiSupport to safeguard and support young people in daily living and help them to transition to adulthood.

Day-to-day responsibilities vary from helping young people plan their week, cook, do their shopping and help them to make positive choices every day from what they wear to college to how they respond to an altercation with a friend.

The company often deals with extreme cases where young people have experienced abuse, criminal exploitation and complex mental health issues.

Talking about WiSupport’s work, Nathan said: “It is full of surprises, you could always plan your day but they never really unfold like that. With our children and young people, they come with various challenges and it is about how you unpick them and how you are proactive to different things that come in during the day.

“You wake up to kids that are smiling and they are happy and, if you are seeing that, then you are doing something right.”

The Northampton supported living provider was anonymously nominated for the ‘Leaving Care’ award before the company was shortlisted by judges and then invited to an interview, where the founders were asked about their passions.

A group of esteemed judges in the industry then chose WiSupport to be national winners in that category and commended them for their transitional work, effectively acting as the last step for care leavers to move into independent living.

Nathan added: “To be three-and-a-half years operational and be held in such esteem, it makes us really proud. We always say you are only as good as your weakest link and I don’t think we have one in terms of our staff and the support we’ve had from our local authority.

“I just want to say a huge thank you to everybody and our young people. They are a credit to us every day and show incredible resilience, they really do.”