Meet Concrete Rose – One of Our 2026 Incubator Finalist

Concrete Rose: helping care-experienced students find belonging at university

For many young people, starting university marks an exciting new chapter. For students who have grown up in care or are estranged from their parents, however, it can also bring a daunting sense of uncertainty and isolation.

That is the challenge Concrete Rose is tackling.

The Cambridge-based initiative provides one-to-one mentoring for students with care backgrounds or who are estranged from their families, matching them with a trusted adult who can offer encouragement, perspective and practical support as they navigate university and the transition into adulthood.

The need is significant for students.

More than two thirds of students with care backgrounds experience mental health difficulties, while they are twice as likely to drop out of university as their peers. For many care leavers, support from local authorities also falls away sharply at 18 – creating what has been described as a ‘cliff edge’.

Without a family home to return to or a network of people to turn to, the freedom of university can quickly become isolating.

Concrete Rose mentors provide something many of these students have never experienced: a consistent adult who is there for the long haul.

They celebrate successes, stand alongside students through difficult moments and offer the kind of steady, relational support that can make the difference between simply surviving university and truly thriving.

And the results are striking.

All Concrete Rose students surveyed say that mentoring has had a positive impact on their wellbeing – personally, relationally and vocationally – while 100% of students involved in the programme have completed their degrees.

One student described the impact simply: “Through their support, I’ve gained confidence, stability, and a real sense that I belong and deserve to be a student at a University like Cambridge.”

Now in its fifth year of working with Cambridge students, Concrete Rose has a bigger ambition: to take what it has learned and replicate the programme in university towns across the UK.

The vision is to support hundreds more care-experienced and estranged students, helping them build confidence, develop healthy relationships and leave university equipped to become independent adults.

For Concrete Rose, it is about more than helping students graduate. It is about making sure that young people who have already overcome extraordinary challenges do not have to face their next chapter alone.

Find out more at concreterose.co.uk

Cinnamon Incubator Final 2026

Concrete Rose are one of five finalists at this year’s Cinnamon Incubator Competition, taking place on Thursday 12 November at St Peter’s Church in Notting Hill.

For more information about the event email sarah.taylor@cinnamonnetwork.co.uk