In March, members of SiCC and SLCC MC-ed at the ‘Celebrating Care Leavers – Making a Difference Together’ Conference, which was held at the Canalside in Bridgwater. Member of SiCC and SLCC, Amber-Jane wrote this article about the event.
SiCC and SLCC attended a care leavers conference on the 12th March. The conference was about why it is so important that care leavers need access to employment or training. Many incredible employers attended the conference and provided some amazing opportunities and ways to help care leavers. One of those employers was Mulberry. They made two pledges. The first one was a financial pledge which is their promise to help fund programmes that directly benefit care leavers. Their second pledge was a stepping stone pledge which is them promising to provide opportunities for care leavers to gain independence and advance in their careers. They also promised £5,000 for a care leavers fund.
We had a young person who has care experience share his experience since leaving care. Connor shared his journey through care and his struggles throughout his journey. Connor found an amazing opportunity after care by signing up to Camp America. This began his journey of travelling and he went on to travel to Australia and has plans to travel more around the world. Connor said “his present is not defined by his past”. He wants to find ways to fund travel for a young person in care.
SiCC and SLCC asked participants to write their own pledges to care leavers. Some of the pledges are offering exciting opportunities in their employment such as work experience and to build more funding for the care leavers fund. They want to widen the world of employment and highlight the positives young people can bring to the job.
The conference provided some amazing opportunities to hear from lots of different employers and ways they pledge to help young people find a career they love. We had some amazing feedback on the conference, Harriet Gardiner from Mulberry said “the organisation of the day has been incredible and the speakers have all given some memorable speeches”. Heather, who is the lead member of the Children, Families and Education also said “we should never underestimate young people, they have such a range of personalities, but they need the environment to flourish”. We also had an amazing singer, Rayah, who sang her own song ‘Promises’ which had everyone in tears.
Amber-Jane
You can read more about the conference here.
And you can listen to Rayah’s incredible song ‘Promises’ on Rayah’s Sound Cloud page.