Personal stories: Christine's story

Three young people smile out of graduation day photos on social worker Mike Rodden’s bookcase. One is his son, the other two are young women who used to be in care.

Mike is immensely proud of all three. One of them, Christine, is sitting in his office in Dumbarton. Now 26, she is a third officer with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) and is currently on leave.

Confident and relaxed, Christine says: 'I’m a systems engineer - the only female systems engineer in the RFA. I deal with everything electrical, from light bulbs to generators and radar.'

Christine looks fit and tanned from her last posting to the Caribbean. A former Royal Navy Reservist, she was called up when the Gulf war started to serve as force protection on various vessels.

She says: 'The RNR built my confidence. I met new people. It got me around the world. We went to South Africa, Singapore, Oman, Dubai, Bahrain. It was a great experience. I was 20. I was thinking of joining the Navy, but I was serving on a Fleet Auxiliary ship which suited my personality. Living conditions were better than in the Navy.'

After almost a year Christine returned to Scotland to complete her electrical engineering degree. She says: 'The Social Work Department's throughcare service supported me financially, emotionally and practically during this time.

'They behaved like a good parent would have. They extended my stay in supported lodgings while I was in the Gulf. The help I got allowed me to finish my degree before moving into a tenancy. In all this I had continuing help from my throughcare support worker. It was very important.'

Christine still keeps in touch with Mike, a senior social worker with West Dunbartonshire Council and her throughcare support worker, Grace Shields.

Christine was 9 when she and her brother and two sisters were taken into care. They were fostered, looked after in care homes long-term and latterly fostered again.

Mike and his throughcare colleagues played a pivotal role when Christine was 18 and unhappy living with foster parents. She says: 'It got to the point I was about to pack a bag and run away.'

Throughcare stepped in to provide supported accommodation in Clydebank. Christine flourished with positive, stable help from staff. She says: 'I have had the same throughcare support worker for a long time. They are very open with you. Everything is discussed. You’re involved in decision making.

'I’m not their responsibility now, but they will always give me advice and point me in the right direction. If there hadn’t been a throughcare service I don’t know where I would have been.'

Mike says: 'We are attempting to support youngsters who have struggled because their education is disrupted. Sometimes we start at a lower level and look at their personal and social skills and get them into a positive routine.'

West Dunbartonshire had two previously looked-after young women graduates in 2005 and has three undergraduates at present. Mike says: 'Having compared notes with similar local authorities we are blazing a bit of a trail in terms of university education.'

Other looked after young people are on employment training courses, at college or on the Prince’s Trust personal development course. Mike says: 'We are fantastically proud of Christine, but for someone else, getting through 12 weeks of the Prince’s Trust course is an equally great success.'

Mike Rodden, Throughcare and Aftercare Manager, West Dunbartonshire Council