About Us,
Contact & Get Involved
Who are we?
Hello! We are EaCES (pronounced ee-ay-cez) - that stands for Estranged and Care Estranged Students. We were founded in 2017 by Ira Hakim and were known as 'Thriving and Surviving UK' until 2020 before we updated our name.
Our mission is to provide a central space that signposts to support and guidance that is accessible to our community in all areas of our lives, with a particular focus on supporting access to further and higher education.
We are a peer support platform by and for students who are estranged, care experienced, care leavers, orphaned and at risk of/wishing to become estranged. We also seek to raise awareness of our existence and to encourage colleges/universities, governing bodies, widening access programmes and schools to up their support. Our project covers the UK and Ireland. We are all volunteers.
We grew out of an Instagram community set up back in 2017 by estranged, orphaned, refugee and care-experienced students and graduates to help fill in the gap in support for students like us. We published the very first edition of the EaCES Handbook during the first COVID-19 lockdown in June 2020. In October 2021 we re-launched our Twitter @EaCES_ and in 2023 our new Instagram @eaces
How do I share EaCES?
Do you want to get the word out there about the free support EaCES offers?
You can...
Share our free poster, email it or print it out! Poster PDF and image available here
Follow us on socials: Twitter @EaCES_ and in 2023 our new Instagram @eaces
Share our EaCES Handbook (this thing you're reading right now!)
What is The EaCES Handbook?
The EaCES Handbook is a virtual guide written by over 90 estranged and care experienced students/graduates (EaCES) - as well as those from orphaned, refugee and kinship-care - to bring together information and advice to help other students from the same background: including official support, our own experiences, and practical tips. The Handbook is designed to support students like us pre-entry, throughout our time in education/apprenticeships and post-graduation in ROI and UK.
UCAS and Care Leaver Covenant recommend our handbook and signposts to us on their websites:
UCAS - Going it Alone (Estranged Students) + Supporting Care Experienced Students
Care Leaver Covenant - EaCES Handbook (mycovenant.org.uk)
Although we initially designed this handbook for students, a lot of the information in here is helpful to all care experienced, refugee and estranged people: it is a hub that may be helpful to anyone growing up and into adulthood with limited family support.
What is in The EaCES Handbook?
Currently the Handbook covers over 30 topics including support and signposting around areas such as...
Accommodation, activism, applying to university, apprenticeships, becoming estranged, benefits, bereavement, careers advice, community creative corner, domestic abuse, emergency help, employment rights, grants & scholarships, healthy relationships, holidays & festive periods, homelessness, LGBT+ students, life skills, meeting others from similar backgrounds, mental health & wellbeing, networks and societies for and by CE&E, next of kin, official charities & organisations, PhDs, mature-students, reconnecting with family, self-confidence, sex education; stalking & harassment, students with disabilities, student finance and unlearning unhealthy behaviours.
Can I get in touch with you directly?
Of course! You can drop us a message here to say what you would like to contact us about. The form does not automatically collect your email address (for your privacy) so if you'd like us to reply, please leave your contact info and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
Alternatively, you can dm us on our X account @EaCES_ or on Instagram @eaces
Also, please don't be concerned if we just reply as a team/don't use our names. Amongst us are those who need/want their identities protected for safety so often we just sign off emails with 'EaCES'. 😊
How can I join the EaCES Team?
That's super exciting and we'd be very happy to have you onboard!
If you'd like to join us as an Editor of The EaCES Handbook or as an admin of our EaCES Twitter, you can use this quick google form right here to drop us a line. Currently, over 80 students and recent graduates have editor access to add information to the handbook and our socials. N.B. Our social media passwords get updated for security reasons but editors get emails when this happens.
This website could not have come about without the input and guidance from many people across the UK and Ireland.
We'd like to say a really big 'THANK YOU!' to everyone who has supported us so far and helped this Handbook come to life - in particular: Artie, Nickola, Jess, Cereza, Chloe, David, Blair, Nadia, Jaz, Sarah, Noemi, Mia, Lucy, Rameen, Hannah, Oscar, Bry, Rhia, Connor, Leyla-Ann, Jessica, Kez, Tina, Sam, Tristan and Morven.
We also want to thank the estranged, orphaned, refugee, care leaver and care experienced students and graduates who are working on this project and our X/Instagram - and who submit their ideas anonymously. We appreciate you so much.
Awards and Nominations
Since 2017 we have been honoured to have been shortlisted for and won several awards. Here are some recent highlights...
Coram National Voice Award 2023 - The Digital Award
Stand Alone Award 2020
Pledges & Commitments
Since 2017 we have become proud signatories to the following...
The Care Leaver Covenant: promising to be an organisation that supports care experienced people, read our pledge here
The Power of Youth Charter: an expression of the power young people have to lead positive change. Find out more about the Charter or read our pledge here.
The Stand Alone Legacy Pledge: we have agreed to continue their efforts in support of estranged students, including continuing #EstrangedStudentsSolidarityWeek in November each year. Read more here.
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