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Building futures: How LandAid and Epic opened new doors for Jodie

Our industry knows that a safe home is only part of the solution. Young people also need confidence, opportunity and practical skills to create stable, independent lives. LandAid funding helps bridge that gap by supporting Epic’s entrepreneur-focused Masterclasses programme, ensuring young people have access to expert business education, mentoring, financial support and a network of professionals who believe in them.

Location

Birmingham, UK

Preventing youth homelessness requires more than accommodation. Lasting independence comes from having the confidence, skills and opportunities to build a future.

Epic Entrepreneurs supports young people who have experienced adversity, including care experience, socio-economic disadvantage and disability, to develop the knowledge, confidence and resilience needed to create their own opportunities through entrepreneurship.

With support from LandAid, Epic is delivering specialist masterclasses that help young people develop practical business skills while also building self-belief, resilience and long-term independence.

Jodie's story

Jodie's story

“When I was 15 years old, I was kicked out of my home, so in 2018, I was living between Manchester and Sheffield, but I didn’t have a home for nearly 6 years.

I got used to ‘sofa surfing’ at mate’s houses, sleeping in cars and nights sleeping on the streets too. I existed like this for a long time, looking back it was horrible, but it didn’t feel too bad at the time, I just got on with it.

When it got hard and I was mainly on the streets, I didn’t feel like I had a life or any future. So in 2024, I contacted the YMCA and they were so good, they found me a room in Stoke-on-Trent, which I could go to and live in immediately. It was quite far, but I got myself there quickly and it was the best thing I have ever done. I finally had somewhere to live, my own space, food and have made new friends over the last 2 years.” – Jodie, EPIC Young Entrepreneur.

LandAid funds EPIC

EPIC exists to help young people overcome barriers that often prevent them from reaching their potential. Many of the young people Epic supports face economic hardship, limited access to professional networks, reduced confidence and fewer opportunities than their peers. Rather than focusing solely on employment, Epic encourages young people to explore entrepreneurship as another route towards financial independence and personal fulfilment.

Participants receive:

  • Expert masterclasses covering Business Planning, Project Planning, Marketing, Finance and Legal/IP
  • Monthly one-to-one mentoring from experienced business professionals
  • Access to a business support network and directory
  • Grants of up to £500 to help launch or grow their business ideas

EPIC’s wider mission is not only to support young people into employment or self-employment, but to build confidence, resilience, social mobility and a culture where successful participants go on to support future generations. Entrepreneurship gives young people the power of choice. Many of the young people they work with have experienced circumstances that have limited their confidence, opportunities or belief in what’s possible. Starting a business is about developing resilience, problem-solving skills, confidence and a mindset that says, “I can create my own opportunities.”

For care-experienced young people in particular, entrepreneurship can remove many of the traditional barriers to employment by allowing them to build something around their own strengths, passions and lived experiences. It empowers them to take ownership of their future and create lasting independence on their own terms.

Jodie's introduction to EPIC

Jodie's introduction to EPIC

“EPIC came and delivered a Build a Business workshop at my YMCA, and I just went along out of interest and something different to do, but it was so good that I signed up to their programme straight away.

I’d always loved being in the kitchen, it comes naturally to me. When I lived with my mum I did all the cooking, I was more of a mother than she was. I’d worked since leaving school and had been a kitchen assistant before and the EPIC team made me feel like this was something I could do as a business and make money from.

It hadn’t even crossed my mind that what I enjoyed doing could be a business of my own.”

– Jodie, EPIC Young Entrepreneur 

What LandAid is making possible: the Masterclass Programme

LandAid funding is helping EPIC deliver 18 expert-led masterclasses for care-experienced young people in Birmingham. Each session covers practical business topics including, business planning, financial planning, and much more.

This partnership enables EPIC to help young people facing barriers develop the confidence, skills and entrepreneurial mindset needed to build sustainable, independent futures. Together, we’re giving young people the tools not only to overcome adversity, but to build lives of purpose, opportunity and possibility.

EPIC measures its impact using the HACT Social Value Calculator, demonstrating significant improvements in confidence, wellbeing, employability and economic resilience.

Current impact data shows

  • £ 30

    of social value return created from every £1

  • 82 %

    Improve their self-confidence

  • 64 %

    Experience relief from unhappiness or depression

  • £ 26,000

    Of social value generated by very graduate

  • 55% improve their sense of purpose and self-worth
  • 55% become more confident navigating social situations
  • 45% improve their emotional resilience
  • 36% sustain regular attendance
  • 27% begin saving regularly
  • 18% experience relief from debt

Our investment gives young people the opportunity to redefine what success looks like. Rather than focusing on barriers, the programme helps them concentrate on solutions, creativity and possibility. It builds skills that remain valuable whether they go on to start a business, continue in education or pursue employment. By backing this work, LandAid is helping to create opportunities that may not otherwise have existed, and showing young people that their ideas, experiences and ambitions have real value.

LandAid understands that preventing youth homelessness is about creating opportunities as well as providing support. By investing in potential, this partnership demonstrates that lasting change comes from combining practical support with belief, guidance and opportunity.
Mentor at EPIC
Jodie's next steps

Jodie's next steps

“I attended all of the classes and had lots of great meetings with the EPIC team and have now completed the initial business programme. They helped me start my own business called Northern Bakes.

My next step is to spend the EPIC grant money towards equipment and marketing, and then I will do the alumni classes. I love all of the meetings and mentoring that EPIC give to me, they make me feel positive.

I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for EPIC and LandAid, my goal is to move out of YMCA soon with the long-term goal of living and running my business in France. I now feel like I have a purpose and finally feel good about myself, and the EPIC team always encouraged me, telling me that I can do it, and I AM doing it!” – Jodie, EPIC Young Entrepreneur 

Since her journey with LandAid funded EPIC, Jodie has continued to develop her business idea, whilst securing a job at a fine dining restaurant. She has baked cakes for different events, such as a 50th anniversary celebration.

They have been amazing and opened the door to an opportunity I didn’t even know I had or could do!
Jodie, EPIC Young Entrepreneur
Young people creating lasting change

Young people creating lasting change

EPIC’s impact can already be seen through young entrepreneurs who have gone on to launch businesses inspired by their own lived experiences.

Recent examples include young people who have:

  • Founded a charity supporting autistic young people to better manage emotional regulation.
  • Created a business delivering neurodiversity training to organisations across the UK.
  • Developed an accessible recruitment platform using video to support people with dyslexia and other learning differences.

These stories demonstrate how entrepreneurship can empower young people not only to transform their own futures, but also create positive change within their communities.

The role of the property industry

This is where LandAid’s supporters make the difference. Every pound raised by the property industry through LandAid helps organisations like EPIC provide opportunities that many young people would otherwise never have access to.

By funding programmes that build confidence, skills and independence alongside safe housing, our industry is helping create stronger foundations for young people’s futures.

Our industry is full of expertise that could change lives, why not mentor a young person? 

Volunteer mentors must pass an Enhanced DBS check and commit to 1 hour of support for 12 months. Apply here, or reach out to the Epic team for any queries at jenna.mclean@epicfutures.co.uk

Read more about impact we're creating

Projects we’ve supported