Voices 2025: Primary Shortlist

You are my best friend
My only best friend
You are my chosen family
You’re never lonely or sad

You keep me company through the night
I cry on your shoulder when I have a fright
We dance all night
How am I meant to live without you in my sight

You are my best friend
My only best friend
You make me laugh
You make me smile

I keep you up late
Talking about drama at school
How am I meant to live
Without you in my sight

I was talking to my other friend
And they were jealous of you
Thank you for being so supportive
I am just so thankful for us being born at the same time

I have known you for my whole life
I just want to say thank you for all the pretty and happy memories
I just want to say thank you for keeping me company
I just want to say thank you for never giving up on me.

This is my voice,
The sun in the sky,
To me it’s my choice,
My voice makes me fly.

Like the sun shining bright,
Sometimes it’s a blaze,
My voice is my right,
Filling my days.

The sun is so fine,
It is mostly yellow,
Sometimes it will shine,
Makes you feel mellow.

The sun glares at me,
It is always around,
There for all to see,
My voice is my sound.

Moving with grace,
My voice full of glee,
Like the round sun in space,
MY STRENGTH, MY ENERGY!

I use my voice to say:
I am nearly 9 now
I get to wear make-up
I get to be with a perfect mummy of my own
I hope you are happy and never sad
I feel grateful when I see you
I sometimes feel nervous when we meet
I’m glad we never get to argue
When we’re grown up, can we still meet?
With love, my brothers and sister

I use my voice to say:
I am safe
I am happy
I am grateful for the things you are prepared to send me
like photos of me when I was little and letters
How do you feel when it is my birthday?
What was I like when I was little?
Did I always have turquoise eyes and like pink and purple?
When I grow up, I want to be a vet, artist, teacher or a princess builder
I wish I could see you one day
With love, my first Mum and Dad

I use my voice to say:
I am loved by my family now
I am scared of lots of things
I feel grateful to have you
Being adopted is cool because I get to have loads of adventures
One day I’d like to see my first parents for real
Will you help me?
I need help to understand why this really happened

I don’t understand it when you say ‘it was for the best’
I need more details
What do you think it feels like being adopted?
With love, my Mummy

I use my voice to say:
Being adopted is my superpower
I’m great at looking, listening, learning and remembering
I never forget things
I get worried when you ask questions
I don’t know much about when I was little

I bet you have thousands of photos and I have only six
Being adopted can’t stop me
from doing and being who I want to be
I don’t see everyone and everywhere as safe
so sometimes I don’t behave well
It takes me time to get to know people
Do you know anyone else who is adopted?
With love, my Class

I use my voice to say:
I wasn’t adopted because I wasn’t wanted
It was for my own safety
There is more importance in me, adopted or not!
Being adopted isn’t an excuse
Being adopted is my story to tell
If you want to know about me, ask me
With love, my World

Hello and this is the story of Me! I don’t live in a small house, not in a big house, but in a cosy house. I have lovely foster carers (L* and S*) and my younger brother now lives here too. Oh, and don’t forget Paris my big German Shepherd!

I’ve really enjoyed living with L* and S*.

Let me tell you about the bad things I’ve experienced in care; that I can’t see my family so much, moving schools, not seeing my entire family, missing my family every single day, I felt scared and wanted to cry because I was worried that I was never going to see them again. But… don’t worry, there’s also a good side! I feel much safer here than at home with mummy because my mummy was a lovely person but she just did some bad things that wasn’t her fault.

I had to get used to new people, I was scared to leave my younger brother on his own while I went to different foster carers.

Now I am with L* and S*, I love care and it’s so fun to be living with my brother again! It’s so much fun and makes me feel even more safe. So, you need to know the other good things I’ve had in care; of course, being with my brother, having very nice foster carers, having delicious foods, looking after each other. I love care so, so much! Eventually I will be able to go back to mummy. I love everything about care and when I leave care when I’m eighteen I will never forget the fun moments we had and I will miss it my whole life. I will still keep in contact with L* and S* because they are nice to me and I know they will always care about me.

True fact…! Did you know that I was one of the 83,840 children in care in 2023.

Him/He
Twice the police were involved,
He hurt my mum the worst,
The police arrested him.
A few years he was inside,
Then, he came back.
The abuse never stopped,
My mum had a choice,
She chose him out of fear,
And that’s why I’m here.
Him/He,
Why was it me?

My family ripped apart
I was taken from my mum,
Separated from my sister,
Dad had his chance but turned his back on me,
I was thrown into care,
All alone there.
This was my reality,
Why was it me?

Living in foster care
At Y and T’s, my best foster carers,
They felt like real parents,
But I was moved away from them.
Back to mum for 3 months,
Those 90 days were great,
But I was taken again.
P and T were not the best for me,
I had to move from my hometown,
It didn’t work out,
Y and T took me back to their house,
It was even better than before,
They retired and I had to leave,

M and M came next,
They were quite nice and supported me
when my Nan sadly passed,
But it didn’t last long,
Another foster family retired,
My 6th Foster placement with M and C,
This was much better at the time,
Yet again a foster carer decided to retire,
My patience with it all is thinning,
Now, I’m with C and it’s just the beginning,
How will this one be?
Why was it me?

School
My first school started ok,
I made lots of new friends,
It wasn’t always perfect,
Some choices weren’t great,
Suspended, suspended, suspended, suspended, suspended and suspended again,
6 times it happened to me,
In Year 5, it all changed,
Everything was new:
New foster carers,
New town,
New school,
New people,
I was shy,
Not my true self,
Until I was comfortable,
Friendships began,
It was the start of a new plan,
Will it work? Let’s see,
Why was it me?