Leaving care shouldn’t mean leaving support.

Positive Plugz was built from lived experience, resilience and a determination to create positive outcomes.

We are two sisters, born and raised in Brent, who grew up navigating the many challenges that come with finding your way through school, college and into adulthood.

But there was something else that had always been part of who we were.

We were the sisters people turned to.

Family, friends and even people we barely knew would often feel comfortable coming to us when they needed someone to talk to, someone to help them make sense of a situation, someone to stand beside them or simply someone who would listen without judgement.

We naturally became the people who would speak up, find solutions, challenge what wasn’t right and help others navigate difficult situations.

Without even realising it at the time, we were already becoming what we now call the Defenders of Positive Outcomes.

Our own journey was not always straightforward.

We experienced first-hand many of the barriers that can impact a person’s life: school, college, family pressures, relationships, peer pressure, housing, employment, financial struggles, parenthood and much more.

Through these experiences, we learned that sometimes you have to become your own biggest advocate.

We had to learn how to fight for what we wanted, speak up when things weren’t right and make sure our voices were heard. We learned that sometimes the person who screams the loudest gets heard, but we also learned that having knowledge, understanding your rights and being willing to challenge things can change outcomes.

We refused to put ourselves in a box and sit back waiting for someone else to give us an opportunity.

We went out and created our own.

Along the way, we educated ourselves, built our confidence and developed a wealth of knowledge and experience. But most importantly, we learned things that aren’t always openly shared: how to navigate systems, how to advocate for yourself, how to find a way through difficult situations and how to turn experience into opportunity.

We also learned something even more important:

Everybody’s circumstances are different, but many of the underlying challenges are the same.

That understanding naturally led us to supporting other people. Over the years, we have developed experience across a wide range of areas, including:

• Careers Advice & Guidance
• Representation & Advocacy
• Criminal Justice – Adults & Young People
• Youth Work
• Charities & Local Authorities
• Substance Misuse
• Social Care
• Participation & Engagement
• Education, Employment & Progression
• Tailored Individual Support

Through working with people and communities, we saw the same patterns repeatedly. People were being held back not because they lacked potential, but because they faced blockers, whether that was confidence, knowledge, opportunity, circumstances, systems or simply not having the right person beside them.

This is where Positive Plugz was created

We wanted to take everything we had learned, through our own experiences, our professional journeys and from the people we have supported, and turn it into something bigger.

Something that doesn’t simply tell people what they should do, but gives them the tools, knowledge, confidence and support to actually do it.

Our mission is to help people recognise their potential, understand their options and overcome the blockers standing between where they are now and where they want to be.

We believe in participation, not prescription.

We believe young people and young adults should be given the opportunity to be heard, understood and involved.

And most importantly, we believe that someone’s current circumstances do not have to determine their future.

Positive Plugz is about sharing the knowledge that we had to learn the hard way. It is about opening doors, creating connections, challenging barriers and helping people develop that “I can do this” mentality.

Because;

• “We know what it feels like to be told no”
• “We know what it feels like to struggle to be heard”
• “We know what it feels like when the system feels bigger than you”
• “We know what it feels like to have to fight your way through”
• “We know what it feels like to need someone in your corner”

For years, we were those people for our family, our friends and even strangers. Now, Positive Plugz is our way of being that person in the corner for many more people.

Positive Plugz
Defenders of Positive Outcomes

Connect. Participate. Progress.