Why?
Bath and North East Somerset’s (B&NES) Care-Experienced Council felt that the Corporate Parent pledge to children in care and care leavers was “too wordy, inaccessible and that no one really got it”. Many young people didn’t know what the pledge was and why it matters so much.
The young people started to have a conversation about, ‘What even is a Corporate Parent?’ They tried to humanise the words, but one young person highlighted that, “first we need to understand our basic rights as children and young people, then we need to think about what this pledge means for us.”
Other young people said:
“People would get this way more if it was like a film or something.”
“We need to change the language of the pledge, make it visual and colourful. We need something that young people will actually get.”
What?
For 18 months, B&NES’ Care-Experienced Council worked with a local film company to create a series of films that explain what the pledge means for children in care and care leavers. The group considered things like the characters, the style, visual consistency, the music and more recently the website/ landing page/ posters/ stickers and all of the social media/ promo elements.
Members of the Senior In-Care Council did the voiceovers for the films and one very talented young person created some original piano music to soundtrack the films. Staff said how great it was to see their young people stepping out of their comfort zone and trying new things. Members of the Junior In-Care Council helped to think about the look of the films, taking stills of themselves walking, drawing and talking, which contributed towards the styling of the films.
All together, they created two longer overview films about the pledge (see above) – one aimed at a younger audience, and one at an older audience. They also created 12 shorter films outlining each section of the pledge, which you can watch on this webpage on the B&NES website.
What difference did it make?
The videos were shown at a launch event which took place in Care Leavers’ month in October 2025.
Councillor Paul May, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services in B&NES, said: “These videos are a powerful reminder of the importance of listening to care experienced young people and acting on what they tell us. The pledge is our commitment to them and they have shown creativity and honesty in helping us explain it. We want every young person in care to know they are valued, supported and never alone.”
This case study was shortlisted for the Digital Award at the A National Voice Awards 2025, and won 1st place.