Hearing from our young people

Becci was one of  our first Trust's Young Advisors and was awarded The Fostering Network's Oustanding Achievement Award for her work. Here is Becci's letter to her younger self. 

Some words of advice to my younger self! 

Note to self: When a social work assistant with blonde hair called Tracey knocks on your door, just let her in and whatever you do, do not give her attitude!

You’ve recently been approached by her (bet you did not think you would see her again) about joining the children in care council. You do not realise it yet, but she will soon become a very influential part of your life. You have agreed to attend the children in care council even though you do not want to, you feel very nervous and out of your comfort zone but I reassure you that this will come to be one of the best decisions that you will have ever made!

You came to children in care council as a very shy and timid young person and slowly your confidence is growing. You love working on different issues to make not only your own life but the lives’ of other young people care better – such as challenging the jargon social workers use, those annoying words like ‘contact’, ‘CIN’ and ‘LAC’ that make you feel like you stand out even more as a ‘kid in care’- plus you don’t always know what they are about.

Keep at it, the hard work and determination will soon pay off. At the moment the younger ones seem so annoying because you are a teenager, who is sooo grown up! You won’t believe me if I told you that you will make lifelong bonds with these people, you all become a little family.

You will start to get opportunities to speak at large events, they will scare the living daylights out of you, trust me you will get a rash and have palpitations the lot but it will not kill you! Just do it as they say ‘life is too short’ and all that. The more you do it the easier it gets, do as much as you can, PUSH YOURSELF! Because you can do it, you soon become so good at speaking your confidence grows and grows.

Opportunities are flying left right and centre and take them all. That shy timid girl will soon disappear, before you know it you will be speaking at staff conferences, speaking in front of hundreds of people without even flinching. You will have the opportunity to work with other young people in similar circumstances, the chance to visit London. You will find that people with big fancy titles – Ministers, Chief Social Worker, Directors of Children’s Services from across the country - are asking you, yes little old you, for your time and advice on how to make things better for other children in care.

You love what you are doing, so grab it with both hands. Show them what Becci is made of. You get to do so many things. Those things you hated about living in a residential unit you get to change them; you get to turn them into homes. You get to sit on interview panels for Directors, Heads of Services, social workers and trust me your opinion really matters.

You will go on to do amazing things and other young people will look up to you! Your confidence, your sense of pride and your knowledge will surprise you. You will soon find yourself chatting to senior leaders, as you often do, joking about an idea you’ve got. Before you know it you are writing that idea up into a business plan and you soon find yourself in front of a board (the people who make the big decision) pitching to them your idea to roll out training across the country to help adults understand what it is like to be a kid in care. They love your idea; what’s more you end up with a bursary named after you – Becci’s Bursary – and the really cool bit you get to use it to help other care leavers follow their dreams. Yes, you really do this!

You eventually go on to start work in the organisation, a proper job getting pad a proper wage!  Who would have known a young girl from Balby who left school with 3 GCSE’s, had nothing really going for her would do so much.

You will to accept and turn your negative experience of home life into a positive by making it better for other young people.

So last note, no matter what anyone says you will do amazing!

Four of our Trust Young Advisors volunteered at a day centre for homeless children in Romania. Here is their story:

Young people from Doncaster are heading to Romania to volunteer in a day centre for homeless children.

The Young Advisors will be embarked on a five day experience as they join the charity Vis de Copil, which has been helping homeless children in Romania for over 18 years.

The group of five, consisting staff and young people, helped children of all ages to access what most people would consider basic necessities of life, such as hot meals, showers and fresh clothes, as well as working to provide basic education.

A staff member commented: “It is important for the Young Advisors to come out of their comfort zones to see the reality of how some people have to live. It meant so much to them all to be able to do the wonderful work we did whilst in Romania and to be able to make a real difference to the lives of these children.

“The advisors have worked hard to raise funds of £316.40 through staff collections for the charity which was used to help provide fresh food for the children, as well as school equipment and clothes.”

The charity, Vis de Copil, relies solely on donations to provide the sanctuary for the children who would otherwise have no place of safety.

Commenting on the experience, one of the Young Advisors, Amy said: “I find it rewarding to help others and give them the emotional support they need. I think experiencing and seeing how the Romanian children live will allow us all to realise how grateful we should be for the smallest things in life. If we made in a small difference to their lives, I will be beyond words.”