CREATE Foundation CEO, Jacqui Reed, was awarded a 2014 Churchill Fellowship with the purpose of studying the improvement of life outcomes for young people transitioning from statutory care to independence – Netherlands, France, UK. To read up on this, please visit our earlier blog post by clicking here.
Here is a message from Jacqui herself who has just started the journey.
Hello everyone
I have arrived safely in Amsterdam after a very long plane trip (23 hours). The weather here is so cold compared to Queensland and the top temperature today was only 7 degrees! I have had to get some gloves and a scarf to keep warm. On my first day I visited a small country called Belgium and I learnt that their national language used to be French but now they speak Dutch, French AND German.
I headed out to a place called Keukenhof about 45 minutes outside of Amsterdam today to visit the tulip gardens, which was truly amazing. I hope you like the photo of what I think are the worlds biggest Clogs!
Interesting fact – Did you know that the Belgians invented French fries? Belgian journalist Jo Gérard claims that a 1781 family manuscript recounts that potatoes were deep-fried prior to 1680 in the Meuse valley, in what was then the Spanish Netherlands (present-day Belgium) and did you know that they have them with mayonnaise?
Tomorrow I head out to the University of Groningen to meet two amazing researchers who specialise in out-of-home care. I am looking forward to hearing about how they see their transition system and learn more about how they support young people in the Netherlands.
Bye for now!
Jacqui
