Show Us You Care
A CALL TO ACTION FROM CARE EXPERIENCED YOUNG PEOPLE
VOYPIC is the charity for children and young people with a lived experience of care in Northern Ireland. It has been over 10 years since the last VOYPIC manifesto (Do You Care?) was written. Some things have changed, but lots of the same challenges are still here. So we decided it was time to speak up again.
Working with staff at VOYPIC, we started by looking at the old manifesto to see what still matters. Then we helped design a survey for other young people in and leaving care. Hundreds of us shared our views. After that, we held focus groups: real conversations about what life is like for us. The VOYPIC Young Reps took all the results, picked out the most important things, and helped create this new call to action – Show Us You Care.
Many of us also advised the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services, published in 2023. We shared our stories, our ideas, and helped shape the recommendations. We were proud to be part of it, but we’re disappointed that not much has changed since the report was published. We need action, not just talk. This call to action isn’t just for one government department or service. It’s for everyone: politicians, social workers, policy makers, teachers, carers, youth workers, the media, and the public. Everyone. We all need to work together to make things better for care experienced young people.
Our Calls to Action:
We’ve had enough of being left out or let down. We know things can change, because we’ve seen it happen. But we need people to step up.
Read this. Hear us. And Show Us You Care!
