Minutes:
Jodie Henderson, Strategic Manager for Looked After and Permanence introduced the ‘proud moments’ item which promotes positive news about children looked after. The Strategic Manager informed the Panel that feedback from young people suggested there was more work to be done to challenge stigma around being in care, therefore, the ‘proud moments’ item had become a standard item on the agenda for the Panel to share the best moments of the young people who are looked after. The Strategic Manager highlighted that colleagues have a difficult task in selecting which proud moments to share, as there are often too many to choose from.
This month’s item reported on a young person from one of the residential children’s homes who is a volunteer with a community allotment project and has worked hard to support the project’s activities and raise awareness of environmental issues. This has led to a commendation from the volunteer lead and the project is now supporting the young person to achieve the John Muir award for raising awareness of the natural environment.
Another proud moment came when a young person who had been finding life particularly difficult, with help and support from specialist services, overcame their difficulties and developed such empathy for other young people in a similar position, that they are now providing help and support to others through leading activities. The Strategic Manager paid tribute to this young person’s fortitude, saying that it is experiences such as these that challenge and encourage the service to support young people to live their lives to the full and realise that they are valued and can make a contribution.