CONNECTEDTHE TACT CONNECT NEWSLETTERAUGUST 2020

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THE TACT CONNECT MEMBERS MANiFESTO

MEET THE NEW TACT CONNECTADViSORS

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STAYiNGENTERTAiNED iNLOCKDOWN

GET iNVOLVED iN OUR

ViRTUALMEET-UPS

TACT Connect would like to introduce you to our new Advisors!

We are expanding our team to ensure our services are led and informed by experts of the care experience. Our advisors are all TACT Connect members, and will be helping us to build the community, organise exciting opportunities, and bring together even more of our young people and adults.

Nikki O’bRiEN, EAST MidLANDS

Hi my name is Nikki. I’m 19. I currently work at Merit Home Care looking after the elderly, but I’m going back to college in September to become a social worker. I was in care from the age of five and was adopted under a special guardianship order. I will be organising the parent and child meet up. So if you have any queries or want a one-to-one talk I’m happy to do that. Hope to hear from you soon!

MEET THE TACT CONNECT ADViSORS

iqRA SAEED, EAST MidLANDS

I’m Iqra! I’m 22 years old, in my final year of my Journalism degree and I’m care experienced. I want to be

a voice for other care leavers. I’m really excited and looking forward to working with everyone.

I really want to encourage care experienced people to socialise (virtually for the time being) with other care experienced people. It can be really nice to have that space to understand each other on that level.

Especially, if you want a support network or some advice.

Fun fact; Green is my favourite colour!

AShlEigH ANDREWS, SOUTH WEST

Hi, I’m Ashleigh. I’m 20 at the moment, but I will be turning 21 soon. I’m currently finishing my last year at university, but I’m

JARRA CESSAy, LONDON AND SOUTH COAST

Hi, my name is Jarra and I am 20 years old. I am part of the South London team. I am currently a support worker and I work with people with autism in particular. I am hoping to become a social

hoping to go back next year to do my master’s degree and hopefully one day become a researcher.

I currently live in Plymouth with my Fiancée Megan, our two rabbits (Hudson and Dodie) and our Hamster Nugget. A fun fact about me is that I love gaming, I think it’s the best thing in the world. Whilst in

lockdown my favourite things to do are binge watch Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy and listen to the new All Time Low album ‘Wake up, sunshine’ and play guitar.

worker in the near future and I intend on going to University this year in September. I am very excited to be given the opportunity to participate in this role, mostly because I feel as though it will give me new skills and an insight to what life working with young people would be like, which will help with my future aspiration to become a social worker.

RAkiA GAylE, WEST MidLANDS

I am 19 years old and I am a university student who is currently studying Education Studies to become a teacher. I enjoy drawing, playing sims and animal crossing. Recently I have been trying to learn the guitar and Japanese. I enjoy travelling and

WE ARE

STILL LOOKING

have been to many different countries, I would like to travel more in the future!

I would hopefully like to inspire some of the young people, to either go to college or university or get their dream job. As a person who grew up in care, many people told me I wasn’t going to make it! But here I am! I would like to be there for the young people as someone they can trust and easily talk to.

fORmORE AdViSORS

Are you 18+ and a TACT Connect member interested in being an Advisor?

Email us at:

connect@tactcare.org.uk

to find out more about the application process!

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If you would like to join the Policy Forum, or know a young person who would, Contact:

Megan Davies - Head of Political Engagement

megan@driveforwardfoundation.org

07552010506

Today I had the pleasure of talking to some people at Drive Forward. Drive Forward is a charity that works with young care leavers, care leavers who are going through the same experiences. Drive Forward helps these young people to get their voices heard and to help them with life experiences so they can have the same opportunities as everyone else.

We spoke about the things that Drive Forward does to help the young care leavers, such as working together as a community, to campaigning events and even working with politicians.

We are hoping at TACT to work alongside Drive Forward to give our young people the same opportunities that Drive Forward gives. This could help many of our young children with higher education or even mental health.

DRIVE FORWARD: GET iNVOlVED!

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MEMBERS MANifESTO

Drive Forward Foundation primarily supports care-experienced young people in London into employment, education and training. However they also facilitate a ‘Policy Forum’ of around 50 care leavers from right across the country.

The group aims to bridge the disconnect between care-experienced young people and policy makers, in order to achieve effective change and equality of opportunity for those who have been through the care system.

The group regularly meet with national and local policy makers, they feed into government decision making

Written by Rakia Gayle:

• Be inclusive and do no leave anyone out

• Don’t make judgements about each other, and be understanding of each other’s differences and opinions

• Be respectful of each other

• Respect people’s personal space and when they might need some time out

• Do not take photos or videos without consent

• No drugs or alcohol at TACT Connect meet-ups

• No swearing or abusive language

• Zero tolerance of bullying

• Do not discriminate against others, this includes gender, gender identity, race, language, religion, or disability.

and have campaigned on a range of issues including:

• The unnecessary criminalisation of care-experienced people

• Housing

• Stigma

• Local authority support

• Access to Higher Education

The group has ‘all member’ meetings every six weeks, these are currently happening virtually, but even in normal times there is the option to dial in or use Zoom if you are not able to attend meetings in person. There are also a number of optional subgroups which you can also join, covering topics such as immigration and Higher Education.

As a Drive Forward Policy Forum member you will receive:

• Training opportunities; including public speaking and community organising.

• The chance to engage directly with high profile politicians and influential figures.

• UK travel opportunities, connecting you with care experience young people all around the country.

Find out more about the Drive Forward Foundation at driveforwardfoundation.org.

With TACT Connect Advisors now in post, one of their first pieces of work was to create the Members Manifesto below. Created by members to

ensure the safety and protection of all members, this is an agreement that every TACT Connect member must agree to abide by.

Any breaches of this Manifesto should be reported to the TACT Connect Co-ordinator or a Children’s Resource Worker.

Failure to abide by the Members Manifesto, may result in you no longer being able to be a part of TACT Connect.

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• The Study Series by Maria V Snyder - About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered a reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace, and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. And so, Yelena chooses to become a food taster. The books are full of mystery and danger and romance they are full of twists and turns its brilliant.

• Michelle Moran (Egyptian based books) - Based on historical event books like Philippa Gregory’s books but these, are based in different eras.

• Flyaway by Lucy Christopher - A heart wrenching and rollercoaster ride of emotions, and tales, about a 13 year old girl going through a roller coaster of a time and finding, herself along the way with the help of swans and a boy.

MUSiCTV

BOOKSBOOKS

• Professor Green - He bases his work off rap and real-life events and is really enjoyable to listen to.

• Arctic Monkeys - I am a massive indie fan and this is one of my top bands to listen to. They have a brilliant mixture of songs for anyone to try.

• Mammwa Mia - Perfect to have a sing song as well as a dance!

• The Walking Dead – There are lots of seasons! You should watch it up until Morgan’s character leaves, then watch all of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’, then go back to The Walking Dead to watch the rest.

• The Bodyguard – This is good, it is about a bodyguard who works for the people who deal with terrorism.

• Hollywood – This is amazing, with actors like Queen Latifa and Jim Parsons from Big Bang Theory.

• A discovery of Witches’ Trilogy by Deb Harkness - I love this trilogy it has a mix of history academics and romance as well as strong female leads.

• Phillipa Gregory books - Books based on the cousin’s war and the war of the roses, all historically based and are all gripping - I can never put them down once I start.

• The Divergent series are my all-time favourite books. The series is brilliant simply because, like the Hunger Games, it’s based in a post-apocalyptic world and the factions are based on real life things that go on. Veronica Roth is the author and she actually used her fears as inspiration in the books.

• For LGBT+ related books, I recommend Things Behind the Sun (David Berner) and the Art of Being Normal (Lisa Williamson). Both books are

BY LOUISEBY DAVE

BY SAMBY SHAY

Hollywood - Netflix

KEEPING TiPS FROM TACT CONNECT MEmbERS

ENTERTAINED IN LOCKDOWN

about male to female (MTF) trans girls and the early stages of transitioning.

• Plus any Judy Blume book, she’s brilliant!!

GAMiNGMy favourite games are from the Assassin’s Creed franchise, but my favourite is Assassin’s Creed 3, because its set during the American revolution (which is my favourite history subject). My second favourite game is Red Dead Redemption 2, because you get to play as an outlaw and ride horses. Both these are open world which means you can go anywhere you want on the game!!

BY ASHLEIGH

A tip for staying safe onlineA tip for staying safe online

Never giving out any personal information, even in your gamertag. Try to make your gamertag unique so no one knows any of your information.

Assassin’s Creed 3

The Arctic Monkeys

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CONNECTEDThe TACT Connect Newsletter

August 2020

YOUR TACT CONNECT COMMUNiTCOMMUNiTyy

ANNOUNCEMENTSYOUR TACT CONNECT COMMUNiTCOMMUNiTyy

TACT CONNECT FUNDiNg In April this year, we received news that the Big Lottery Fund will be able to help us fund TACT Connect. This means we can start creating all the amazing activities and services that so many of you helped us to design, including the Advisors and membership packs!

There is a lot more to come out so make sure to keep an eye out for upcoming announcements!

COViD-19 RELiEF fUNdIf you are struggling financially due to COVID-19, you could receive support from our COVID-19 relief fund. Get in touch on connect@tactcare.org.uk or 07793 580 393 for details of how to apply.

MEMbERSHip PACkSWe have created packs to send out to all our members, which include free goodies such as portable phone charger, plant succulents, info cards and much more. If you no longer live with a TACT foster carer, make sure to contact connect@tactcare.org.uk or 07793 580 393 to let us know what address to send the pack to.

ViRTUAl MEET-UPSJoin us every Thursday for a good natter and some fun games!

England: Every other Thursday at 4pm

Scotland: Every other Thursday at 4pm

Wales: Every other Thursday at 3pm

SOLOMON OB’S SPOKEN WORD WORkSHOp

We did a spoken word workshop with Solomon OB. It was full of laughter and creativity. We spoke about what words meant to us and how we express ourselves through them or music. We got to hear people’s own pieces of work that was moving and inspiring at the same time. And Solomon did a performance for us which was fun. The workshop was full of useful tips and tricks that Solomon himself uses to preform and create:

• Give the piece time don’t rush

• Listen to it out loud and see how it sounds

• Think about what you want your piece to say.

Don’t miss the next Connected newsletter for Poems created by TACT Connect members

What’s coming up in the world of TACT Connect?

“Written by Sam:

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