Chris Wild
@ccwild79
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Best Selling Author 'Damaged & The State of It'. National Campaigner. Activist. Public Speaker. Care Experienced.
Enfield, London
Joined May 2013
1996, I left care and found myself in a bedsit. My first Christmas Day I had a Pot Noodle on my own. Fast forward 30 years and young people leaving care are doing the same. How can we let this happen? Children in care are still children.
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Here's another for you @SuellaBraverman. 18 year old boy from Enfield. His Mum dies and he has no family. He ends up homeless living in a shed. He gets my contact details and I help him. I put him in the Travelodge on the A10 for 2 weeks until I can find him a room in a housing.
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16yr old girl in care highest grades in her school. She applies to study at a prestigious college and is refused. The college has some of the wealthiest children attend. I made contact with the college asking for an explanation using the term discrimination. She's accepted.
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It costs something like £36k a year to keep a young person in HM Feltham. I asked a local London borough for a gym pass £45 for a young boy I was working with. He loved boxing. They stopped paying the fee. He got bored and roped into gang life. He's in jail now. £45 or £35k ?.
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At 16, I was placed in a bedsit with two older men who were both alcoholics. The place was dangerous and unsuitable for a 16 year old boy leaving care and starting an independent life. No one listened when I begged for somewhere safe to live. I ended up falling behind on my bills.
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There's nothing more humiliating than sitting outside KFC on a Friday night and asking drunk people on their way home for leftovers. Imagine being 16, 17, 18 and this is your only chance of survival. Being homeless was the most frightening time on my life. At 43, I have a house.
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A girl in care gets the best grades in Yorkshire and applies to study a prestigious college. Her application is denied. I look into this and call people out and guess what, it's administrative error. That's why we need care experience to be a protected characteristic.
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I spent my childhood in the care sector. I was groomed into gang life at 12yrs old. I've been homeless. I've been ar rock bottom twice, drugs, alcohol. I've been so broke that I had to steal. I've lived. Today I want to make sure young people in the care sector have a future.
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During a weekly staff meeting where everyone had to share an interesting fact about themselves, a young man stood up and shared that he was brought up in foster care after losing his mum to cancer when he was just 9 years old. Another team member then stood up and said, 'If.
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17+ care leaver caught stealing toiletries. She was too embarrassed to ask for help, and when she did, she was told to budget her UC better. I put her a bag of essentials together and delivered them directly to her supported accommodation. When asked to speak with a staff member,.
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It's incredibly brave for young men to come forward and talk about sexual abuse and rape from their time in care. There were 6 boys in my dorm at the children's home. There are only 2 of us here today. The other boy's took their own lives before the age of 25 because of the.
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The largest private providers of children’s homes are charging councils an average of £3,830 a week per child and pocketing an average 23% of that as profit. That's something to think about. No one should be getting rich from vulnerable children and young people.
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15yr old placed in my care after being moved around the country 30 times. 30 times!!! He rocked up unsupervised in a taxi, late at night on his own. DfE ask yourself why these young people fail. Why they end up joining gangs. Why they don't go to school. Big salaries no.
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Think about this. 16-year-old children are dumped in bedsits, shared accommodation, and hotels with no support whatsoever, and this government thinks it's OK. When I speak to these young people, the fear in their eyes is something you never forget. Grown men banging on your door.
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The prime minister has never had to face a 17yr old girl in care so hungry that she's considering prostitution to survive or a 16yr old boy forced to live in squalor then groomed by drug gangs only to end up in jail. Children in care are still children. #priorities.
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Back in the 80s a convicted paedophile who had been sacked from a private boys' school later became the head of children's services in Calderdale, Halifax. He went on to build a children's home, hiring a circle of predators. These so-called professionals abused thousands of.
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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.
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I made a conscious decision this morning to join the Labour Party. I can't stand in the wings anymore and watch children and young people in the care sector suffer. Enough is enough. Children in care are still children.
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The picture on the left I was a homeless care leaver suffering from alcohol and drug addiction. It was also the last time I was ever arrested, drunken disorder. I was 20yrs old. I have worked incredibly hard over the years to build a life for myself. 20 years later. The picture
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I met this amazing care leaver when she was 18. She was living independently, working two jobs and studying law. Well, here she is today with an Issa Bachelor of Law. I'm super proud of you. Let's get you to the bar. Please see the link and support if you can.
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That first moment you realise you're homeless and no-one is coming to your rescue is a memory deep within your brain, it doesn't go away. Looking through windows wishing that was you sat in a warm house with love. Embarrassed to ask people for spare change just to get a hot drink.
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Left. The very last time I was arrested as a care leaver, homeless, jobless. I made a conscious decision at 21 to change my life, stop letting my care past destroy my future. #Thestateofit .On the right. 42 author, campaigner, husband, father. Children in care are still children
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When I was taken into care at 11 years old, I was told that a children's home was my only option. I was physically abused and never given the opportunity to stay with family members. Many years later, my uncle told me he had contacted the local authority to ask if I could stay.
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Imagine being 15, living in a care home, and being told to pack up because you're moving again. Given a black bin bag for your belongings, like your life is disposable. A taxi picks you up at 9pm after your social worker's shift ended at 5. You arrive alone with your life in a.
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Another amazing care champion. Meet Katie, who's smashing life. Katie lives in semi independent care and is soon moving into her own flat. Her care journey has been tough, but she's had great support from the team at Orchard House Northampton. Again, proof that with the right
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At 12 years old, I found myself homeless. Crazy but true. I ran away from the children's home and never went back. The local authority stopped looking for me as did the police. The only solace I had at the time was linking up with other young boys to form a gang. It was survival.
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Children in care have criminal records for taking food from the kitchen, in their care homes, after hours just because they were hungry. Believe it, it's still happening. Imagine your parents calling the police on you because you took food from the fridge? It wouldn't happen.
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A 18yr old care leaver working 2 jobs. He goes to view 8 flats and is refused by the landlords. When he stops telling people he's in care he views a flat and the landlord gives him tenancy. This is why care experience needs to be a protected characteristic.
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On 25th December 1996, I woke up on Christmas Day with nothing. I had 3 slices of bread and a pot noodle for my Christmas dinner. It was the best pot noodle I've ever had. Every year, I do a Christmas collection for young people in care because I know first-hand what it feels.
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To this day, some children in care settings are arrested and charged with theft when they take food from their fridge after hours. Yes, you heard that right. Imagine being prosecuted for taking food from the kitchen in a children's home because you're starving, and then you get a.
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I need to add she did finally get accepted once I got everyone involved from the local MP to the DfE and she's smashing it.
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Some different and happy news today. We're having a boy. Losing my dad at 11 broke my heart, he was my hero, he still is so we're naming my son after him. David Ashikka Wild. 💜
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At 16 years old, I had left the care system and was living in a bedsit. I had a single bed, an electric hob, and a second-hand kettle full of limescale. The curtains were hanging off the rail, and the carpet was covered in stains. I had to share a bathroom with 3 other people,.
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4 years ago I did this newsnight interview to raise awareness around children in care being placed in dangerous houses, unregulated accommodation, squalor, bedsits. Young people 15+ left to defend for themselves in a house where you're expected to be independent!! In 2024 and.
"He's 15 and he's never had his bed made for him.". Care home manager Chris Wild recalls the night that "broke" him; when a teenager was dropped off alone at a home he was working at. 📺 Watch the full film: #Newsnight
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Just a reminder: this is a 16-year-old’s room in so-called 'semi-independent care.' Yes, there’s a bed, but I’ve seen prison cells with higher standards. We must make care experience a protected characteristic to stop local authorities from using providers who charge astronomical
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Young person in care from 11 years old. Placement to Placement, foster carers back and forth. At 18, it's the last hurdle, and she's placed in a run-down block of flats, and independent life as an adult begins. She's on UC and looking for a job. She tries to study in-between.
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Imagine being 16 -years -old and this was your bedroom in your new home supplied by the local authorities. This is the reality for many young people (not all) in our care system facing uncertainty. Most are forced into independence, called young adults ans made to pay bills,
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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,.
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In 2014, I found myself unemployed and lost. I had just got my first mortgage, and my wife was expecting. I was on Universal Credit, and I had to watch my wife work incredibly hard to pay all the bills. I told her I would make it right, that I was going to write a book and change.
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A 9yr old boy in a children's home. All through his childhood he has corporate parents. Staff come and go, some don't care. No hugs. No bedtime stories. No relationships. 16,17,18 he's a young adult (not a child) supposedly ready for independence. #protectedcharacteristic.
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Lots of young people in the care system are being placed in unsuitable accommodation. Some of these places do not have cooking facilities, no hobs, no oven, just a kettle. I asked one young person what his go-to meal was with very little money and nothing to cook with. He said
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A young care leaver was placed in a bedsit at 18. He had no family and very little support. Unfortunately, he suffered from depression and as a result, he took his own life. I was informed by a professional working with him that she was the only one who attended his funeral. This.
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A big thank you for all your support this year. As a care leaver all I ever wanted was a family of my own. Meet the family. Children in care are still children.
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Two vulnerable 17-year-olds are left in a two-bedroom house. The back door is hanging off the hinges, and the front door is loose. They both receive 6 hours of support per week from their key workers. One of the young people told me she woke up one morning to find a grown man.
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@estherh1234 And not just that, lots of these places are unstaffed, and the owners of the properties put themselves down as employees without doing any support work whatsoever. Once care experience becomes a protected characteristic, we will be able to prevent this from happening.
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Weeks after this picture was taken my Dad died and my childhood came to an end. I ended up in a children's home. I cannot articulate what I experienced but because of that I have dedicated my life to help others like me. #CareDay21 We are unique, we are special, we will succeed.
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At 16, I left the care system. I was told that I would be in jail or dead before I was 21. At 18 I was a professional boxer. Today at 40 I'm an author, a manager, a consultant and I'm happily married with two beautiful children. #carehomekids #Nevergiveup #believe. #Damaged
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I think I speak on behalf of all the care community tonight when I say the @JohnLewisRetail commercial as been a long time coming. What a day. Historical. Children in care are still children. We all have a responsibility to keep our children and young people safe and loved. X.
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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.
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On a happy note. The picture on the left. I was a happy child living a safe life full of love with my dad. The events that followed would change my life forever. My dad died when I was 11yrs old and I was sent to live in a Childrens Home. I spent years suffering and dreaming of
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And heres the thing. I kept telling them that if he gets bored we'll lose him. He needs to be active all the time, let's fill his days with sports and activities. No, Chris. No can do.
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At 15yrs old she came into my care. She was very disruptive but I believed in her when no-one else did. She's now a support worker at Great Ormond Street and works in children's homes at the weekend. This is the success stories we need to hear. Children in care are still children
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Imagine being in care and forced into independence at 16, 17, or 18 'and' called an adult. While your peers live rent-free, go to college, and enjoy holidays, care leavers with no family or support are left to survive on their own. They don’t get that luxury. #FactsMatter.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again. It costs the government £135k+ a year to look after a young person in HM Prison Cookham Wood. It would cost LA £20k a year to put that same YP on lots of youth training courses and potentially save his life. You do the maths.
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@CathHill2 This is why I'm asking everyone to support @TerryGalloway and his campaign to make care experience a protected characteristic.
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When I was 12 people labelled me a lost cause. I was in and out of care, I lived on the streets. I broke into cars to keep warm. I stole food from supermarkets to survive. One day somone believed in me and my life changed for ever. #LifeLessons Flowers die amongst weeds.
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An 18-year-old boy, fresh out of care, finds himself unemployed, isolated in a bedsit, and drowning in depression. He turns to alcohol to cope and, soon, ends up homeless. Reaching out for help, we intervene. We place him in a program to fight his addiction, and with time, he.
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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.
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Imagine being 16+ living in a house with no support, no family, no money. This is what some might call being independent. For young care leavers it's called abandonment, neglect, forgotten. The word scared has a completely different meaning. Children in care are still children.
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3 police cars and 6 officers called to a house supporting young people 16+ in care because a young person was playing his music too loud. The neighbour told the police to go easy, the police left, giving the boy a stern warning. The young person in question then wrote a letter to.
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Today, I delivered some Christmas gifts to 3 amazing young people living in a semi independent care home. They told me that Christmas means nothing to them because they've never really had one. All through the care system at a very early age. 7-18, to be precise. I took them lots.
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Interesting conversation this morning. I am a care leaver who left school with one GCSE. I was homeless the same week. Dumped. I have no degree, and I've spent the best part of my 20s &30s trying to level up. I've written two very successful books and dedicated my life to the.
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Imagine being a 16yr old care experienced person stuck in a bed sit or a semi independent house in the middle of nowhere. Imagine having no money, no family, and no support system. Imagine being scared, lonely and depressed. Imagine all this at 16. It's someone's reality.
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Don't get me started. A flat covered in damp like it's out of control. The young person has just left the care system. He has emailed the landlord numerous times only to be told to open his windows. Josh Macalister said the care system for our most vulnerable children and young
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Something I will never forget. It broke my heart. 15, coming into semi independent care, on his own, no social worker. children in care are still children. #phoenixcaring.
"He's 15 and he's never had his bed made for him.". Care home manager Chris Wild recalls the night that "broke" him; when a teenager was dropped off alone at a home he was working at. 📺 Watch the full film: #Newsnight
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I've attended two funerals this year for young care leavers who unfortunately didn’t receive the support they so desperately needed. It sickened me to see that no one from the council or local authority attended their funerals. Someone reached out to me, asking if I would attend.
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One young boy came into a home I was managing and bought all the over boys Pizza. He looked the business with his expensive coat and bike. He let the boys keep the change from a £20. He was 17. And just like that he groomed all the other boys into his gang.
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Going into care is not a choice. It's not an experience but a condition. At 18 you're abandoned by the state, left to defend for yourself. Imagine if your parents totally cut you off at 18 and said never make contact with them again. #changeiscoming #protected #characteristic.
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This is a single room for a young person 16+ living in semi independent care. This was in lockdown and luckliy I was able to intervene and get the room decorated. This is what some young people have to live with. Our care system 2022. Children in care are still children.
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Young care leaver made homeless. She is offered shared accommodation with drug addicts and alcoholics. She declines the property and finds herself homeless again. With some stern intervention we get her in a one bedroom apartment in a safe zone area. #protectedcharacteristic.
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A quick reminder of why we need urgent reform in our care system. This is a room for a 16-year-old coming into semi-independent care. No staff, only about 3 hours of support a week, and the young people told me that random people come and go as they please. If we made care
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As a child in care, I didn't go to school. I was expelled at 12 years old, and that was that. I walked the streets with other boys from the same background. Nobody cared. Nobody came looking. Times were very different, but nothing has changed. It's still happening. I was forced.
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Children don’t put themselves into care—fact. In some children's homes, cupboards are locked after certain times, and kids have to ask permission just to get a drink. Staff come and go, meetings happen weekly, placements break down, and companies go into liquidation, leaving.
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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.
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I was homeless at 12,16 and 27, it never leaves you. All I ever wanted as a care leaver was a family of my own. It took me until I was 31 to achieve my dream and now I want to make sure no other young person leaving care falls off the radar, or ends up homeless.#changeiscoming.
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Two bedrooms for young people 16+. The one on the left is for a young person living at home with a loving family. The one on the right is for a young person (child )living in semi independent care. Politician's take note. Children in care are still children.
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At 16yrs I was living in a bedsit. I had nothing but a GCSE to my name. No money, no support. As a care leaver there wasn't much I could do as it was deemed unemployable. My dreams kept me alive. Fast forward 26yrs. It's time for change. Children in care are still children.
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A quick reminder. Children in care do not have the same opportunities as their peers. The majority of young people in our system face a lifetime of misery because of social neglect. This is their reality. #changeiscoming.
"He's 15 and he's never had his bed made for him.". Care home manager Chris Wild recalls the night that "broke" him; when a teenager was dropped off alone at a home he was working at. 📺 Watch the full film: #Newsnight
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@Phillip_RN_RM I beat the system and for that reason I'm dedicating the rest of my life helping others.
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Two months after this picture was taken my Dad died. He was my hero. I was 11 year's old. My life spiralled out of control and I was sent to live in a Children's Home. Today I use my experience to help others like me. Writing my book #Damaged saved my life.👇💜 #NeverGiveUp
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Never take life for granted. My Dad, my hero and still is. I lived a good life. At 11yrs old my Dad died and my childhood was taken. I was sent to a children's home and all my innocent dreams transformed into survival nightmares.Children in care are still children. #Thestateofit
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The trauma of losing a parent and going into a children's home will never leave me. In 2022 children and young people in care are still being neglected, rejected, used and abused. Enough is enough. Make care experience a protected characteristic.
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This is why I will never stop campaigning for children and young people in the care sector. Children in care are still children.
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I've lost at least 22 friends who took their own lives because of the abuse they endured at Skircoat Lodge Children's Home in Halifax. The message is clear: if we don't fix the care system, the mistakes of the past will happen all over again. Care experience must become a.
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A used mattress on a broken bed, half a curtain, a floor covered in crap, no bedding, a broken wardrobe, dirty single bedroom for young people 16+ in our care system. Some private companies "could" charge anything up to 3k a week to place a vulnerable child in a room like this
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@nazirafzal This is everything wrong with our country. Real heroes are working hard every day to change people's lives, and these two did what exactly?.
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On a happy note. When I was working in children's homes back in the day. I worked with some amazing young people, always full of life and always ambitious. Yesterday, I received an email from a social worker regarding a young person we both worked with in a care home. She was an.
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Care leavers week. A few months ago a young girl 18, found me after escaping a vilolent relationship in Leeds. Imprisoned in her bedsit. She came to London and I managed to get her is supported accommodation with therapeutic support. She's now living her best life.#NCLW2022.
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Had an amazing offer from Colombia Hotels in Cyprus. They're offering some young care leavers the opportunity to live and work in Cyprus in the summer holidays all expenses paid. Children in care are still children. #changeiscoming.
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Being in a bedsit at 16+ and surviving off 50p noodles and 6p crisps from Netto is something you never forget. 2022-The care sector might not be the workhouse but it's definitely not a sector that cares neither. It's a frightening experience all year round, especially in winter.
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At 12, I was groomed into a criminal life of drugs and other iniquities. At 32 I decided to make it my life, my career, my passion, helping young people in the care sector like me. At 40 I've written two books and I'm working hard everyday to change the care sector and I will.
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@nichola_daly @C_Fitz_ We can start to stop things like this happening by making care experience a protected characteristic. It would force local authorities to place vulnerable young people in better homes. But it would also prevent some organisations from using the care sector and treating it as a.
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Christmas can be very lonely for young people in the care sector. I know personally how that feels. I remember walking the streets looking into windows and seeing families celebrating. It's a lonely experience. Thank you @JohnLewisRetail.Children in care are still children.
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Emotional day. I set out 4 years ago to make sure every young person in care had a gift on Christmas Day. The Care Leavers Christmas Collection has grown and expanded. It would be impossible without everyone's support. X. Children in care are still children. #changeiscoming
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