BUILDING CONNECTIONS

Sons and daughters and fostered children working together

Who we are

• Core team of 4 participation workers, admin, sessional workers and manager

• 20 sessional and assistant sessional workers in the NE and the South

• Young people with experience of care and young people who are sons and daughters – members of fostering households.

The Leading our Lives

Team

What is the project?

• 3 year project – Big Lottery funded• Part of the Fostering Network• History of working with young people• Aim to increase participation of young

people within fostering and related services in England and achieve change!

Why should young people participate?

• ‘Experts through experience’• Opportunity to interact and gain skills• Share common experiences & give a

voice• Build a peer support network• Actively contribute to the services they

receive

How has Leading our Lives enabled young people to

participate?• Training • Campaignin

g• Working

with groups (e.g. S&D’s)

• Creative activities

Mapping/networking

Panel training

Media/campaigning training

Regional Forum

Sons & daughters’ events

Development work with sons

& daughters

Creative Board

REVO

Questionnaires

Conferences

Mapping/networking

Panel training

Media/campaigning training

Sons & daughters’ events

Development work with sons & daughters

Skills to foster part 2

Train the Trainers

Creative Board

Mapping/networking

Mapping/networking

Panel training

Mapping/networking

Panel Training

Mapping/networking

Panel Training

What have we been doing so far?

Chart showing events run or attended by members of Leading our Lives from October 2007 to

May 2010

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

2007 2008 2009 2010

Young People’s Training

• Media and Campaigning training • Train trainers • The Skills to Foster • Panel training

Media and Campaigning Training

• What is it?- A training program run over two days- Teaching the basics about campaigning and how young people can get involved (APGs, visiting MPs, who to contact)- Teaching young people how to handle the media in interviews, both print and radio.

Train the Trainers

• What is it?- Aims to equip young people with

presentation and participation skills enabling them to lead on training sessions.

- Encourages young people to take part in delivering The Skills to Foster

- Transferable skills applicable to many other fields

Panel Training

• What is it?– A training programme for young

people aged 18 and over with experience of fostering.

– Equips young people with the skills necessary to sit and actively contribute to a fostering panel

Consultations and Campaigning

• Questionnaires for sons and daughters

• Regional forum• Contacting MPs• Taking messages forward

Benefits for young people

- Opportunity to network- Learn more about services they

receive- Actively contribute and improve

services- Are continually updated on new

opportunities (4Talent, MTV, writing, workshops)

- Builds confidence

Working with existing groups

• Sons and daughters• Children in Care Councils• Regional Forum• ANV• FCAs

Creative Board

• REVO• Films• Photography Workshops/Exhibitions• Dance / D.J /Graffiti/Storyboarding• Drama

What have they produced?

• Award winning film in MTV’s BOOM! Project

• Video on the National Minimum Standards• A song and music video to go with it• REVO• Photography- Exhibitions at IFCO and

London City Hall• September Showcases in London and the

North East

What will the project be doing until September?

• Photography project – exhibitions • Showcase event- London• Train the trainers for young people – North

East and London• REVO 6 • Panel Training East Midlands• London Sons and Daughters awards

August

Project messages

• Bringing sons and daughters and Care Experienced young people together

• Training for sons and daughters • Young people on fostering panels • Enabling young people’s stories to be

heard.• Creating a platform to allow young people

to show their skills

‘‘The project helps to build fostering families through getting care

experienced and sons and daughters together to help them get along’’

Thomas

‘‘I was deeply intrigued and touched by the personal experiences that were shared by others and felt safe in such an environment to discuss my own personal experiences, in the hopes of informing and educating others.”

Care leaver, Swapping Lives Event

“I often think the sons and daughters are forgotten when it comes to being appreciated for their contribution to the family especially when foster children come to stay. Often award dinners and appreciation is only for the foster carers and I think that it is important that sons and daughters of foster carers are recognised for the contribution that they make.”