#freeloavesonfridays release date is coming in a few short days. Get your copy on pre order now.

unbound.com/books/free-loa…

Unbound Cllr Diane Roscoe 💙 Sefton Council Rees Foundation Cathy Ashley 🟣 Family Rights Group jacqueline mccartney#cep

A child in care can be arrested for going into the kitchen after hours and taking a biscuit. It would be classified as breaking an entry, section 112, and theft. It stays on your DBS throughout your late teens, and it could potentially prevent you from getting a job. And yes,…

Skircoat Lodge Children's Home 1992. There were 6 boys in my dorm, and only two of us are still alive today. At 12 years old, children should be with loving families in a safe place to call home, not locked up and subjected to all kinds of evil abuse. I made a promise that I…

I left care at 16 years old. I was placed in a bedsit with absolutely nothing to my name. The room had a second-hand bed with no covers and a dirty single curtain hanging of the rails. Yellow from cigarette stains. A shared toilet with a drug addict who kept falling asleep…

Making care experience a protected characteristic will stop local authorities from placing vulnerable children in dangerous bedsits. It will prevent young people from suffering a lifetime of misery. Right now, hundreds of children are living in squalor, suffering from mental…

12 years old and told to pack a bag because a social worker is coming to collect you. You're being taken to a children's home. Your new life. You have no control. You leave everything you've ever known behind. Your mother suffers from severe mental health issues. She can't care…

18 year old boy leaving care and embarking on his new life as an adult in the independent world. He has a room in a bedsit in a deprived area of London. The room below has been raided numerous times by police. Drug dealers driving around the area looking for opportunities. All he…

One of the main recommendations of the care review for children and young people in England was making care experience a protected characteristic. It could potentially change people's lives and save people's lives. And yet, with all the evidence collated by professionals and…

Remember this. The care review was published in 2022 and we asked the government to make care experience a protected characteristic to prevent children in our care system being treated like second-class citizens. There is enough evidence to show our care system isn't fit for…

There is a simple argument to make care experience a protected characteristic. It will protect our most vulnerable children and young people in the care system. Think about this! Right now it is deemed legal to place a 16 year old child in a hostel, a bedsit, a hotel with very…

On 14th March 2019 Borris Johnson said live on LBC radio that money spent investigating historic child abuse was 'spaffed up the wall'. As a result of his ignorance, hundreds of adults who were abused in care home settings as children will never get justice. The post office…

Throughout my career working in the care system, I have seen children's education suffer because it was never the focus point of their personal care plan. And as a result these children fell behind in their studies and in some cases failed exams through no fault of their own. I…

A great end to the week. It's easy to talk about all the bad news in the care system but behind the scenes there's lots of amazing people doing great work. This week I managed to secure two interviews for young people for full time positions in catering and IT. It's the small…

I’m calling on all the housing associations across the country to treat care experience as a protected characteristic. This is imperative. More recently we have seen an increase in young people in our care sector facing discrimination. It's not OK. You can start to understand why…

A recent add for a housing association. 'No Care Leavers'. Discrimination in plain sight and that's why we want care experience to be a protected characteristic.

The majority of young care leavers face discrimination everyday, both direct and indirect. Having care experience on your CV shouldn't be a barrier to succeed. Most young people leaving care at 18+ want the same opportunities as everyone else. Unfortunately the obstacles can be…

And this is why so many children and young people face a lifetime of misery in our care system. #changeiscoming

So the government want to criminalise homelessness. Yet again another distraction policy to win back voters. It's a crime to make people homeless and the government need to be held accountable for treating human beings like animals. To jail rough sleepers? At tax payers money of…

Children 16+ placed in a travelodge with food bank vouchers. Unfortunately there's a strick rule of no cooking in these hotel rooms, unless it requires a kettle. So that means noodles three times a day and cupa soup. The young people in our care system are told to make good use…

On a recent visit to a care home setting for young people 16+, I was shocked to see leaflets promoting food banks were included in their starter packs. It defeats the objective of supported accommodation. It's heartbreaking that families and young people are living on the…