A National Voice launches The Grand Campaign to ensure all care leavers receive full support
14 Mar 24
A National Voice, the National Children in Care Council, has launched a new campaign to ensure all care leavers in England receive the full support they are entitled to.
When children and young people leave care, they are entitled to support from their local authority with the costs of setting up their new home – this is sometimes called the Setting Up Home Allowance or a Leaving Care Grant.
This makes sure they can get all the things you need (like furniture, kitchen goods and things for cooking and cleaning) to make their home safe, stable and secure.
On 1 April 2023, the Government announced an increase for the minimum recommended amount from £2,000 to £3,000 for all care leavers in England. This was great news for young people struggling to afford vital everyday items.
However, A National Voice has heard from many care leavers that not all authorities have increased the grants they are awarding.
That’s why A National Voice is launching The Grand Campaign – so that all care leavers receive the full support they’re entitled to.
A National Voice is calling for:
- all local authorities in England to offer all care leavers up to 25 their full £3,000 allowance
- all local authorities to provide clear and consistent guidelines to care leavers’ entitlements
- an end to the postcode lottery, where young people in some areas receive more than in others
As part of its The Grand Campaign, A National Voice, is sending a Freedom of Information request to all local authorities in England, so that it can get a full and accurate picture of what support is available and where.
Over the coming months, A National Voice will be calling on the care-experienced community, the professionals who work with them, and the wider public to get involved and help the spread the word so no one misses out on the support they are entitled to.
Find out more about how you can get involved in The Grand Campaign.
Stable Homes, Built on Love: Staying connected to brothers and sisters
We are thrilled to extend an invitation to care-experienced children and young individuals for our upcoming engagement session, with The Department for Education. This session will focus on staying connected to brothers and sisters.
All details, including the session plan, will be shared nearer to the event.
This session will include the Department for Education, who are actively working on this area.
Intended Audience
All of the engagement sessions we are holding with the Department for Education are aimed at children and young people with care experience.
Children and young people can attend independently, or they can attend with the support of a worker or group.
Session Resources
All resources such as full session plans, activities, and anything else will be provided in full nearer the time of the event.
Should you have any questions please get in touch at ANV@coramvoice.org.uk
Stable Homes, Built on Love: Staying connected to families and friends
We are thrilled to extend an invitation to care-experienced children and young individuals for our upcoming engagement session, with The Department for Education. This session will focus on staying connected to family and friends.
All details, including the session plan, will be shared nearer to the event.
This session will include the Department for Education, who are actively working on this area.
Intended Audience
All of the engagement sessions we are holding with the Department for Education are aimed at children and young people with care experience.
Children and young people can attend independently, or they can attend with the support of a worker or group.
Session Resources
All resources such as full session plans, activities, and anything else will be provided in full nearer the time of the event.
Should you have any questions please get in touch at ANV@coramvoice.org.uk
Winners of Voices 2024 writing competition for children in care revealed at awards hosted by Peter Capaldi
20 Feb 24
On Saturday 17 February, we were proud to announce the winners of Voices 2024, our national writing competition for children in care and young care leavers, at a ceremony hosted in London by actor Peter Capaldi alongside former Voices competition winner, Claire Wilden.
Now in its eighth year, the Voices competition, sponsored by UK management consultancy Cadence Innova, is a positive and celebratory platform for young people in or leaving care to express their feelings creatively and help build understanding around what it means to be care-experienced. With poems that were described as “breathtaking” by the judges including authors Patrice Lawrence and Emma Norry, the young finalists showed their enormous potential and talent.
Peter Capaldi, who has hosted the competition since 2017, said: “I’ve supported the Voices competition for a number of years and am always blown away by the talent of the children and young people taking part. It’s an honour to read their words and the competition is so important in helping us all to better understand their lives and experiences.”
The theme of this year’s competition was ‘What Makes Me Different’, and 25 children and young people were shortlisted across four age categories: primary (age 4-10), lower secondary (age 11-14), upper secondary (age 15-17) and care leavers (age 18-25).
The Voices 2024 winners are:
Winner of the Primary category: ‘Different?’ by Mali, age 8
Judges Abi Elphinstone and Deborah Maclaren said: “This uplifting poem, full of resilience and spirit, has brilliant rhymes and beautiful metaphors. It shows how all our experiences in the ‘tapestry of life’ may shape us but not define us. We can choose what we take away.”
Winner of the Lower Secondary category: ‘Caught in the system’ by Georgia, age 13
Judges Emma Norry and Callen Martin said: “This rap song immediately caught our attention. We loved everything about it, the rhythm and rhyme, as well the title, it wasn’t just a response to the prompt. It celebrates the resilience and determination of all care leavers who ‘rise above the hardship and trials’ to find their ‘brilliance’!”
Winner of the Upper Secondary category: ‘What makes me different’ by Evan, age 17
Judges Patrice Lawrence and Jordan Morgan said: “The author captures the challenges of coming out and not growing up in an environment of openness. They describe the awful lack of control of being outed when the closet door is flung open and the sense of exposures and ultimate rejection that it created for them. While highlighting the sense of shame that young people are made to feel about gender and sexuality and the authentic language, beautiful imagery and rhyming couplets also offered a sense of hope.”
Winner of the Care Leaver category: ‘What makes me different, as told by a 21st Century Bard’ by Ira
Judges Chris Wild and Rebekah Pierre said: “The writer has cleverly responded not only to the theme within the content of their piece, but also through the tone, character and style of the prose. It encapsulates the essence of difference, and celebrates diversity in various forms. It was a pleasure to read this theatrical entry.”
Brigid Robinson, Managing Director of Coram Voice, said: “It has been a joy to read the competition entries and see how children and young people have taken this theme and responded with an enormous diversity of poems, stories and songs. I am amazed by their talent, creativity and resilience. A huge and very well deserved thank you to all the children and young people who have shared their voices with us and helped other young care experienced people to feel seen and heard. We are so proud of all of you, and hope so many others will be inspired by their stories.”
Gita Singham-Willis, Founding Partner at Cadence Innova, said: “Supporting Coram Voice and their crucial work with children and young people in care, is something we are immensely proud of. The Voices Awards is an inspiring competition that champions children’s creativity and enables them to express themselves – a purpose very close to our heart at Cadence Innova as we continue our mission to bring on positive change for individuals and society as a whole.”
Find out more and read the anthology of the winners and commended entries.