Cornish charity leads the fight to tackle stigma against care leavers
Young people leaving the care system and Carefree Cornwall are highlighting their achievements in a bid to help reduce the stigma.
A charity in Cornwall is looking to raise awareness regarding the stigma surrounding young people who have been in care.
Carefree is a charity working in partnership with Cornwall Council who support young people in and leaving care to do things for themselves and others.
The charity also provides opportunities to meet other young people in care, have fun and share experiences which helps individuals make connections and feel less alone.
Some of the stigma's attached to some of these youngsters is that they go on to not contribute to society and are a strain on our local resources. However, Claire Knight from the charity says that simply isn't true:
“We work with a lot of young people who go on to University, they are doing great apprenticeships, doing fantastic jobs.
“Within Carefree, a third of our workers are care experience which is such a strength to our organisation because not only do they have that personal experience, they are really able to help us to ensure that the services we deliver are the best they can be.
“At Cornwall Council, there are lots of social workers with care experience and who have been through the system. They are now doing incredibly well for themselves but they are also using their experiences powerfully to help other young people.”
Claire Knight, Carefree Cornwall
Young people from the charity also take on projects and fundraise for other charities who they work along side with.
Recently, they tackled one of Cornwall’s highest points, Rough Tor, to mark World Mental Health earlier this month and to raised funds for the charity, Young Minds.
“It’s nice to raise money for other charities to recognise the good work they do and help young people who are having a tough time.
"World Mental Health day is important as some people are struggling in silence and this might help them get the support they need.”
Shannan, aged 13
Young people in care have also produced a playlist short podcasts that will be posted on the charity's social media sites for National Care Leaver week which starts on Monday 24th October.
They are profiling some people with care experience in Cornwall, highlighting their achievements and strength in overcoming adversity - including how they have been coping during the coronavirus pandemic.
Claire Knight says it's been a difficult time for everyone involved:
“What we've experienced is that a lot of young people have had a difficult time. They may not have as many people around them to support them.
“People who have been isolating have been finding it difficult to get food as they don’t have as many people to get in contact with and to have that human connection.
“Cornwall Council have done incredibly well in terms of upping their contact with young people. It’s Personal advisors who are the professionals in supporting care leavers from 16 upwards have been ringing regularly, providing food drops but still, it’s been a really difficult time.
“We’ve been working with some young people who have been too anxious to even leave the house because they’re worried about Covid so it’s been incredibly difficult.”
Claire Knight
The charity has also been working closely with Cornwall Museums Partnership and partner museums to be part of this year’s Culture Card Project.
It’s been set up to create free opportunities for care leavers to explore collections, their own creative potential and further embed museums as welcoming spaces for young people from this demographic.
The Culture Card project is currently in the running for a national award in the 2020 National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum.