Why?
Brighter Futures, Cambridgeshire’s Children in Care Council, saw through their own experiences and that of other young people, that the same questions and frustrations were coming up time and again. The impact of this was young people missing out on job opportunities, being unsure of what pocket money they should have, and not being able to join friends for sleepovers.
While most children just ask their parents, children in care sometimes don’t know who to ask, or have to wait for a long time to get an answer to what are everyday questions. This can lead to frustration and a breakdown in trust between the young people and adults who support them.
Brighter Futures said they would like to be independent and not have to always rely on their foster carer or social worker to be the ones who provide the answers to their questions.
What?
Members of Brighter Futures were involved in coming up with the idea of making a video. They suggested the title and some of the questions, as well as brainstorming ideas for who else could be asked for questions, such as their foster carers and other children in care.
Once all the questions were put together, the group asked the Participation Team to go away and find out the answers. Brighter Futures then looked over the information gathered by the Participation Team and asked for more information or explanation where they thought it was needed.
Recording options were discussed, and it was agreed as a group that they would like to have the experience of going to a recording studio for the day, so one was booked.
From there, the group decided which of them would like to be involved in the recording. They were given the option to just be there on the day to support their friends if they weren’t comfortable with being on the video, but all chose to be involved by adding their voice to the recording.
The group asked the Participation Team to come up with the images for the video, agreeing that they would have the final say over whether it met their expectations and they were happy with it, before it was published.
What difference did it make?
This project has now gone live on Cambridgeshire County Council’s You Tube channel, on the Participation’s playlist for children and young people.
Brighter Futures are very proud and pleased with their “amazing” video and are optimistic that it will be an empowering film for children and young people now and in the future.
Whilst the video was originally intended just for other children and young people, bringing together all the information has shown that this is also something that foster carers and social workers want.
Cambridgeshire’s Service Director for Quality Assurance and Practice Improvement said that the video, “demonstrates consistency, fairness and encourages openness and dialogue.”
This case study was shortlisted for the Digital Award at the A National Voice Awards 2025, and came in 2nd place.