18 Jan 24
On Wednesday 17th January, members of A National Voice (ANV) joined a group of nine care-experienced young people who shared their experiences and hopes for the children’s social care system as part of the ‘It’s Our Care’ campaign.
They met with the Children’s Minister David Johnston and Cross Government Minister Johnny Mercer and spoke about early help, ending the care cliff, support for care leavers including mental health support and setting up home allowance and gone to far.
ANV shared information about their Grand Campaign, which focuses on the leaving care grant increase, and in particular the need for this to be made available to all care leavers until they are aged 25.The group also enjoyed a tour around the Houses of Parliament including the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Find out more about the work of ANV and how you can get involved here.
04 Dec 23
A National Voice are delighted to have hosted the second Amplify event at the Coram Campus in London.
The event took place during National Care Leaver’s Week and saw groups of care-experienced children and young people come together from across the country. The aim of Amplify is to provide an opportunity for children in care councils and care leaver forums to unite, share experiences and celebrate the amazing work that they do.
Check out the video above which gives a snapshot of the amazing day.
Find out more about Amplify here.
Find out more about A National Voice here.
28 Nov 23
As part of A National Voice’s ongoing engagement work with the Department for Education and care-experienced children and young people, they are are pleased to launch their second activity pack. This activity pack includes activities to support participation groups to discuss the government’s plans for Advocacy, Independent Visitors, Mentoring and Befriending, and Disability and Inclusion. Download the activity pack here.
Please send us any completed activities, pictures, notes, or recordings to ANV@coramvoice.org.uk by Friday 12th January 2024.
Please also complete a monitoring form so we can keep track of how many children and young people have participated. Download the monitoring form here.
20 Nov 23
A National Voice are excited to announce two upcoming engagement sessions with the Department for Education which will give practitioners and care-experienced children and young people the opportunity to discuss what the future of participation and co-production looks like.
Stable Homes, Built on Love – Empowering Voices: Participation Workers
Thursday 23rd November, 12:00-13:30
This session will be an opportunity to meet with colleagues from the Department for Education, who are keen to hear about participation and engagement work within local authorities with care-experienced children and young people.
We’ll explore what is working well and what the barriers are to participation and engagement. It is also a chance to think about the future direction of participation and engagement within children’s social care in light of the changes set out in ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’.
Book your place on Session 1 here
Stable Homes, Built on Love – Supporting Mental Health and Well-Being
Tuesday 28th November, 18:00-19:30
The Department for Education (DfE) is working closely with The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to update statutory guidance, ‘promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children’, so it sets out clear expectations of support for the physical and mental health and wellbeing for children in care and care leavers.
This session will be an opportunity to meet with colleagues from the Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care, who are actively working on this area. They want to understand who is important to children and young people and who they turn to when they need support with their mental health and wellbeing, what skills and training social workers and other professionals need and how health services can best support children in care and care leavers.
Book your place on Session 2 here
