By Marianna Nicolaou, Children’s Services Manager

Friday, 19th February, marks International Care Day. In understanding the thoughts and feelings of children in care, Care Day is essential in promoting the positive aspects of being in care. We spoke with some of the young people in care and focused on the awareness of Care Day in one of our recent Children in Care council meetings.

Initially the young people had not heard of the day, but were very enthusiastic upon learning that a day exists for them to be recognised. We focused on the positives of being in care and each young person had a positive story or reflection to share, from developing new relationships with people who have become very close to them, to learning new skills. Overall the idea of an awareness day was received positively with our young people.

Below is a short snippet of the conversation and some of the brilliant feedback we received during the meeting:

Are you aware of the day?

No, we haven’t heard of it at all. We only knew about it when it was posted on Instagram.

What do you think the day is about?

Celebrating children in care.

Some of the positives about being in care are:

• Learning new skills, such as baking and painting.
• Meeting new people who you would have never met before and them becoming really close, important people in your life.
• Meeting other young people in care who have gone through the same experiences.

Do you think more needs to be done about raising awareness for children in care?

Yes, there should be something sent out to everyone to let them know, or the local authority should put on a day where everyone gets together to celebrate being in care.

What things do you think people should know about children in care?

That it can be tough but it also can be good and you can learn new things you may never had learnt before.

If you would like to learn more about our direct services for children and advocacy work, visit Direct Services and compliance – Antser