Ella is 15 and lives with foster carers – her story demonstrates the complexity of health inequalities and the need to support young people’s aspirations.

I don’t talk about my life with my family before. When I was 13 I went into care. It meant moving school again and I hated it. My skin and my anxiety were getting worse.

I was more absent from school than in it and barely doing any work. I just couldn’t focus and it got worse during Covid. My social worker got me in contact with the early help service and they helped me arrange some tuition at the library to help with school.

Then I got involved in a local youth group – they really wanted to hear what I had to say and I was surprised. I never had good role models but being with the group has made me think about what I might want to do when I leave school – I have a bit of a path to follow.

These stories are based on the experiences of the young people we work with and have been created by them. Names and identifying information have been changed or removed.