Fair Access: Introduction to new Care Experienced and Estranged Advocacy Worker
Aiesha Marr is RCS’s new Care Experienced and Estranged Advocacy Worker within the RCS Fair Access team.
Aiesha comes from a background in performance and has spent the last eleven years working across the community development sector.
Along the way, she has supported people through youth work, homelessness services, addiction support and has worked with neurodiverse communities – roles that have shaped both her values and approach to care.
Aiesha can help students with:
Emotional support
For students who are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, isolated or struggling with their mental health. Aiesha can also help students access counselling or attend appointments if having someone alongside would help.
Practical support
Support with finances, debt, housing, benefits, understanding rights and accessing services. If students need someone to advocate for them or stand beside them in difficult situations, she can do that too.
Aiesha said: “I feel it is important to share that I have lived experience of care and estrangement. When I was a student, I found it incredibly challenging to balance my studies with work due to financial pressures, and I often struggled, feeling like I didn’t I fit in with my class.
“I felt like I had no real community. This had a real impact on my mental health. Those experiences have made me reflect on how my university life could have been made a little bit easier if I had reached out for support.
“My role is entirely person-centred, meaning the support I offer is guided by students and what they need at any given time.
“Everything we talk about is confidential and non-judgemental, and there’s truly no issue too big or too small to bring along.”
There’s also a monthly drop-in session – with tea and cake – on the first Monday of the month, from 1-2pm, in the Fair Access meeting room.