Interview with Ahmed Mohammed
Hello Everyone. I am Khadacia Smith, Education and Youth Business Administrator Apprentice at the GLA. The following blog is an interview that I conducted with Ahmed Mohammed, CEO/Founder of ‘You vs You’, Bank of England Young Ambassador and Peer Outreach member.
National Care Leavers' week takes place during the last week of October and this year’s event was held in the sporting lounge at West Ham Stadium, on Tuesday 26 October 2021. It was really inspiring and opened a lot of important questions and conversations not only for myself but everyone in attendance, I am sure. There was a mix of care leavers, social workers, council workers, mental health staff, and refugees in attendance.
Read the interview below.
Khadacia: How do we bring more awareness to care leavers week?
Ahmed: I feel in order to bring more awareness to care leavers week is to have a more holistic approach, rather than the GLA organising an event every year. It would be good if we brought all the London boroughs together and do it collectively. A big celebration on one specific day will allow more young care leavers to feel included and valued. When different boroughs their own separate events, I feel some young care leavers are at risk of not getting the correct information to attend, or to put it simply some boroughs will make more of an effort than others. This can cause young care leavers to feel forgotten about or undervalued.
Khadacia: How important is care leavers week to you?
Ahmed: Care leavers week is very important it is a way to remember and reflect on young care leavers. For someone like myself it is a way to share my story and celebrate my journey. I feel like it is a positive thing as it will inspire young care leavers to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel. It also has the power to create a place for young care leavers to feel like they fit into society, meet others like themselves and create strong networks of friends, mentors and opportunities.
Khadacia: Who did you enjoy interacting with?
Ahmed: I enjoyed the whole event and interacting with all who attended, I really enjoyed the fact that we were at west ham stadium for some care leavers this could inspire them, it was inspiring to me seeing Joseph Lyons, foundation chief executive for West Ham united. do a talk about how big football clubs can support care leavers I think that is powerful, it shows if other organisations, companies and charities get involved it could leave a lot of young care leavers feeling just as inspired. MIND in Haringey also attended, I was pleased with the fact that we had charities looking at it from a mental health point of view. This shows people care about care leavers and want them to have a better life in all aspects.
Khadacia: How the GLA staff or public can help support care leavers?
Ahmed: I think the most important way the GLA staff or the Public can support is; at our events we always have content creatives and film staff creating reels and videos. Sharing content on social media could make a huge difference and you can do this from the comfort of your home. Sharing charities and organisations that support care leavers or taking the time to write something positive on social media, knowing that possibly a person in care could come across these things could really make someone feel loved.
Khadacia: Any Important messages you want to broadcast?
Ahmed: Let’s all work together to change the stigma of care leavers, give them the support they require and bring the appropriate awareness surrounding this topic. And To all my care leavers, you have come so far keep going. You are never alone, there are people that have been in your position. We are resilient and despite what you may think we hold the power to go right or left in life, always go right.
Being able to sit and interview Ahmed was a privilege and great pleasure. His passion for change and young care leavers really shone through. This made the conversation flow easily and left me inspired. I hope the takeaway from this is, how we can help moving forward and take on Ahmed’s advice.
To find out more please find below a few organisations that support kids in care