Giving evidence to the Education Select Committee
In February, we supported two care leavers, Louise and Jake, to give evidence to the Education Select Committee where they told MPs how the care system should be improved.
Two young people, Louise and Jake, spoke to MPs at the Education Select Committee about their personal experiences growing up in the care system, speaking about the challenges they've faced, the positive experiences they've had, and what they believe needs to change to make sure the care system works better for other young people.
After I went into care, I had a volunteer independent visitor and she volunteered her time to support a young person in care and just to be there for them...for me, it was like having that one person who was external to everything who just cared about me, who just wanted to see if I was OK and see me and hear me meant the world to me. I felt seen, I felt heard, hence why she's still in my life now as an adult.
Louise
Care-experienced young person
I went several weeks without any money and I was using free banks and having to borrow money to pay for electric and things.
Jake
Care-experienced young person
Our annual reception in Parliament
In December 2024, we held our annual reception in Parliament where we were joined by Parliamentarians, our celebrity supporters, our partners, and young people to take stock of our achievements over the last year and to lean into the challenges and the opportunities that lie ahead of us, including the continued need to work together to address child poverty.
During the reception, attendees heard from two young people, Veronica and Renad, who spoke about their experiences struggling to afford the basics and coping with poor living conditions.
Veronica, a 17-year-old from South America, spoke powerfully about her experience of homelessness and poor living conditions in London, and her struggles with her mental health. “Eventually, my family was offered a flat, but it was infested with mould and had severe leaks,” she said. “I remember sleeping under an umbrella attached to my curtain pole with bed pads inside of it, because there was nowhere else for me to sleep.
“Despite these challenges, I found the courage to speak out against my local council about my family’s situation. This advocacy led us to being moved to where we currently live. Now, looking back, it's surreal to be standing here in front of you today.”
Renad, an 18-year-old SEEN Ambassador, spoke openly about the struggles she faced as a seven-year-old refugee when her and her family fled Syria. “The day I left, I remember getting on the bus, and my granny was chasing after us for us not to leave. We got to Lebanon at night, and from there we lived in distress and destitution - no bathroom, no kitchen, just rubbish, everywhere as high as my knees,” she said.
“We were eventually evacuated to the UK with no idea where we were going or what to expect. We landed at the airport only to see a bunch of people waiting for us with teddy bears and open arms. They were Barnardo’s.”
Barnardo’s has always been at the forefront of what's affecting our children's lives, making sure that all children have a voice, all children are understood, all children are spoken about.
Baroness Benjamin
Vice President of Barnardo’s
Barnardo’s Conversations with Care Leavers
In the last decade, the number of children in care in England has increased by 23%, and children are entering care at an older age, with one in four children in the care system now 16 or over. This means that more young people aged 18 are leaving the care system every year. On leaving care these young people face a significant reduction in support, and outcomes for care leavers are worse than their peers. This isn’t right.
To mark National Care Leavers Week 2024 we held ‘Barnardo’s Conversations with Care Leavers’, an event in the House of Commons which brought key decision makers and sector colleagues together to hear directly from care-experienced young people about the changes they want to see from Government to support their journeys to independence.
At the event, Josh MacAlister MP hosted a conversation with Emrys, Sara, Louise, Helen and Marcia, young care leavers supported by Barnardo’s, who spoke about care leavers experiences on a range of issues including healthcare, education, housing, the criminal justice system and the changes care leavers need to see to support them once they leave care. Attendees also got to hear from Janet Daby MP, Minister for Children and Families, Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, former Secretary of State for Education, Lynn Perry MBE, Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, and Ashley John-Baptiste, broadcaster and journalist, who shared an excerpt from his book ‘Looked After’ about his experiences growing up in care.
At the event Parliamentarians were encouraged to sign a pledge to support care experienced children and young people, and we provided them with a briefing pack with our latest reports and research about young people’s experiences leaving care. Included in the briefing pack was our latest briefing ‘Supporting Journeys to Independence’, which outlines how key decision makers can come together and improve support for care leavers aged 16-25.
Over 100 people joined us to listen to care-experienced young people including 42 Parliamentarians, senior civil servants, councillors and sector leaders. Baroness Pidgeon, Helen Hayes MP, Darren Paffey MP and Steve Darling MP all raised the issues they heard at the event in the House of Commons and House of Lords.
This event was the first in a series of events we plan to hold in 2025 on support for children in and leaving care.
If you want to truly realise how flawed the (care) system is and all the issues there are, I would encourage you to make the time to listen actively to as many stories and experiences as possible. I would assume that all of the positive experiences that you hear are rare and all of the negative experiences you hear are shared.
Marcia
age 27, care-experienced young person
We are family: Young people leaving care need the love and support others may take for granted
We spoke with Josh MacAlister MP, author of the 2022 Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, and some of our young care-experienced campaigners to talk about what needs to be done to improve the care system in England.
Amplifying children and young people’s voices and experiences
Children and young people should have opportunities to have their voices heard and be taken seriously in decisions that affect them. When young people are involved, we know this leads to better decision-making and improved services.
Campaign with us
We are building a better future for children and young people across the UK. This means calling for changes to the law, policy, or practice that will improve change children’s lives and the systems around them.