LJMU and Rees Foundation partner to enhance support for care experienced students

A new partnership with the Rees Foundation - a charity which offers lifelong support for care experienced people - will enhance the help on offer to LJMU students during their studies.

Over the next year, the foundation will work with the university to deliver additional packages of support to care experienced and estranged students.

The collaboration has been driven forwards by the Student Life and Wellbeing Inclusion team, with oversight from the Care Experienced and Estranged Working Group, and support from Estate Development and Campus Services at the university.

Café Connections

The first of those initiatives is Café Connections which will enable any eligible student to register for a ‘Café Connections’ card to access a free hot or cold drink every day at one of LJMU’s Core Café’s across campus, plus any other participating establishment across the UK.

The first Café Connections events will be launched on Thursday 19 March. In the morning between 10am and 12noon in the James Parsons Building and from 1pm in the Student Life Building. Eligible students will be invited directly by the Student Life and Wellbeing Inclusion team, but students and staff can also email the Inclusion team with any questions about the initiative or wider Rees Foundation partnership.

During the launch events, students will be able to meet members of the Rees Foundation team and get involved with some ‘crafternoon’ sessions as well as signing up for their Café Connections card. As part of the afternoon launch event in Student Life Building, there will also be a Student Life and Wellbeing marketplace where students can speak with a variety of different teams including Inclusion, Student Futures, Accommodation, Disability, Mental Health and Counselling, as well as Student Life and Physical Activity representatives.

Rees Foundation are so excited to be supporting LJMU students with our Café Connections project and are looking forward to the upcoming launch. Come and meet the team, pick up your free guest card and have a cuppa with us!

Rees Foundation spokesperson 

Other projects and areas of support

Core Café staff, and the Student Life and Wellbeing team, will receive additional training through the foundation on how best to support students who have care experience or are supporting themselves independently.

LJMU students will also be eligible for an ‘Ask Jan’ membership through the Rees Foundation. Ask Jan – an initiative named after the charity’s founder Jan Rees - has been developed to assist care experienced people of all ages to access comprehensive, practical advice and support, as well as additional benefits.

The foundation will also offer one-to-one support for care experienced LJMU students to access their care records, alongside careers support and financial assistance, adding to help and advice already on offer via the university’s student support services.

Support for care experienced students at LJMU

In 2022, LJMU was awarded the National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL) Quality Mark in recognition of the enhanced level of support on offer, and this Quality Mark was renewed in 2025.  

The university offers a wide range of support to care experienced students throughout their time at LJMU, from year-round accommodation to annual bursaries and a dedicated point of contact through the Student Life and Wellbeing team.

Access and Participation Plan

Care experienced and estranged students remain two of the most under-represented groups in higher education, and the Office for Students has identified them as a priority group for inclusion in institutional Access and Participation Plans with specific targets related to access, participation and success.

Find out more about LJMU’s Access and Participation Plan.

About the Rees Foundation

The Rees Foundation is a UK charity and was founded by Jan Rees OBE in 2013. A foster carer herself, Jan has devoted over 40 years of her life to the care of children and young people in the UK.  Jan’s vision is that people leaving care have support networks in place, and they are not left alone to tackle life’s challenges.

The Rees Foundation have worked with several universities including St Andrew’s University, Cardiff University, The University of Manchester, and now LJMU, to deliver additional packages of support to their care experienced and estranged students.