We’re delighted to announce the eight winners in our 1,000 Voices of Care event.
On Monday 13 July, Coram hosted 1,000 Voices of Care, an event celebrating the tenth anniversary of Voices, our national creative writing competition for care-experienced children and young people.
The event, sponsored by the data and tech consultancy Transform, was hosted by broadcaster, TV presenter, author and inspirational speaker Ashley John-Baptiste. Former competition judges Baroness Lola Young, E.L. Norry, Chris Wild, Rebekah Pierre, Deborah Maclaren, Jordan Morgan and Callen Martin also joined the celebrations, which included a panel discussion, reflecting on the impact of the competition over the years.
Voices, run by Coram Voice, is a unique and celebratory platform for children and young people in or leaving care to communicate their feelings creatively and contribute to the wider understanding of what it means to be care-experienced.
Since launching in 2016, over 1,000 children and young people have shared their poems, stories, songs and raps, reflecting their diverse experiences of care. In 2017, the competition also platformed the voices of young people of migrant and refugee backgrounds, and in 2020, received its highest number of entries, with a special category dedicated to the experiences of care-experienced children and young people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eight former winners from across the last ten years of the competition were selected by a reviewing panel to receive a special Creative Achiever award at last night’s event.
The winners were:
- Primary category (age 4-10) – Jamie, with ‘My First Match’ (from 2017)
- Primary category (age 4-10) – Mali, with ‘Different?’ (from 2024)
- Lower secondary category (age 11-14) – Adam, with ‘Does My Height Matter?’ (from 2019)
- Lower secondary category (age 11-14) – Elizabeth, with ‘My Voice: A Journey from Silence to Song’ (from 2025)
- Upper secondary category (age 15-17) – Evan, with ‘What Makes Me Different’ (from 2024)
- Upper secondary category (age 15-17) – Mateo, with ‘At Last, He Speaks’ (from 2025)
- Care leavers (age 18-25) – Nathan, with ‘Let Me Just Check That with Mike’ (from 2018)
- Care leavers (age 18-25) – Sophia, with ‘The Girl Behind the Glass’ (from 2019)
The event also saw the continuation of the Voices journey, with two care-experienced young people from virtual schools in London showcasing their creative writing, produced in an earlier workshop led by author E.L. Norry and writer Brian Mullin.
Ashley John-Baptiste said:
“When people think about care experience, they can sometimes focus on systems, policies, statistics or challenges. Those things matter, of course. But what this competition has consistently done is shine a light on the individuals behind those conversations. We see the power of young people’s voices when they are given the opportunity to be heard.”
Dame Carol Homden, CEO of Coram, said:
“We are so proud of the thousands of children and young people who have shared their powerful stories with us over the past decade, which have been an inspiration to many others. It has been wonderful to hear how former competition finalists have gone on to achieve further success, and it reminds us of the importance of creative opportunities like these.”
Gita Singham-Willis, Non-Executive Director at Transform, said:
“It has been a privilege to sponsor this celebration of ten years of the Voices competition. The writing shared by these young people over the past decade is remarkable, and it tells us things about care experience that no report or dataset ever could. Congratulations to all of the Creative Achievers, and to Coram Voice for a decade of making sure these voices are heard.”