Why Understanding Multiple Disadvantage Matters and How It Shapes The EYC Project

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Multiple disadvantage is a term used to describe the experience of facing several, interconnected challenges at the same time, such as homelessness, poor mental health, substance misuse, contact with the criminal justice system, and domestic abuse. According to the Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition, these challenges rarely exist in isolation they overlap and compound one another, often trapping individuals in cycles of exclusion, instability, and marginalisation.

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Traditional support services often address just one issue at a time, like housing or addiction, without recognising how these issues interconnect. As a result, people facing multiple disadvantage are often bounced between services, required to fit into rigid systems that fail to consider their whole life story, and left without meaningful help. MEAM emphasises that tackling multiple disadvantage requires a person centred, trauma informed approach, one that builds trust over time and supports people to navigate complex systems in a coordinated way.

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Why This Matters to Us

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At The EYC Project, we don’t just understand multiple disadvantage in theory we’ve lived it. Our family, like many others across the UK, has been affected by overlapping challenges including housing instability, undiagnosed learning needs, domestic abuse, mental health and various other challenging circumstances. We know firsthand how easily people fall through the cracks when support is fragmented, underfunded, or detached from real life complexity.

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Despite the above, we also know that with the right kind of support, people can heal, grow, and thrive. That is why The EYC Project was created, to offer the kind of tailored, relationship based, holistic support that MEAM champions.

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Our Approach

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Rooted in the MEAM principles, The EYC Project is committed to:

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• Person centred practice - Recognising each individual as more than their problems, and offering support that responds to their full story.

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• Building trust over time – Understanding that people affected by trauma and exclusion may need consistent, long term relationships before they feel safe enough to engage.

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• Working across systems – Advocating with and on behalf of young people to ensure education, justice, housing, and health services collaborate rather than work in silos.

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• Reducing stigma and increasing resilience – Equipping individuals with the emotional tools to regulate themselves, show compassion, and build healthier relationships.

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• Championing lived experience – Using our personal and professional journeys to break down barriers and inspire transformation in systems that often fail to listen.

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Our work is driven not only by compassion, but by expertise and experience. With professional backgrounds in psychotherapy, criminology, education, and youth work, our team has supported and worked with thousands of young people and professionals across the UK. We use this knowledge to advocate for real change, helping young people who are facing multiple disadvantage to access the support they need.

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The Bigger Picture

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Multiple disadvantage does not just affect individuals it exposes gaps in our systems, challenges in our funding structures, and blind spots in how society responds to vulnerability. That is why MEAM’s work is so vital and why The EYC Project champions this way of working.

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When services work together, relationships are prioritised, and when people are truly seen and understood, change becomes possible. 

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