Agenda item

This is an opportunity for members of Care In Action (CIA) and Care Leavers in Action (CLIA) to feedback on recent activity.

T (Care in Action) informed the Committee that the Bright Spots Survey was now officially finished, and the Care in Action (CIA) group were preparing for the next survey launch and designing posters for publicity. The CIA group had also designed a ‘dos and don’ts’ leaflet for foster carers which was now being shared with the Fostering Support Team and Care Leavers in Action (CLIA) for comments and incorporated into foster carer training. The leaflet focused on day-to-day life, such as how foster carers could accommodate a child’s needs including dietary requirements, religious beliefs and cultural celebrations. CIA had trialled some other venues to run their group sessions and were now back at the Civic Centre as it was felt to be a trustworthy, safe and comfortable space. Over the summer, CIA had arranged a members meet up with activities such as quizzes, prizes, catering, a bouncy castle, pool table, crafts, and a DJ, and had over 50 people attending. There had been many leaders in attendance and T felt it had been good to see them in a more relaxed space outside of their professional capacity. CIA also had a residential trip scheduled and T was excited for the people attending that and hoped they had a good experience. One of the main projects T had been working on was with the Brent Care Journeys Team, co-designing a crafts project to capture the memories of looked after children. T shared the memory book she had created as part of the project, which had made her feel like important and valued. She would be feeding back the pros and cons of the project and hoped it would soon be available for other foster children to access.

J (CLIA) informed the Committee that CLIA had been involved in a play at the Kiln Theatre with Brent Care Journeys, following personal stories about people’s experience in care and how they felt. He felt it had been a good experience to get voices heard. There had also been a display wall featuring poetry, model boxes and other work CLIA had been doing over the last few months. CLIA had already had their residential trip, doing activities such as archery, laser tag and making bracelets. Newer members of the group had attended, and everyone got along well so it had been a good bonding experience. J gave feedback that the beds at the residential had been too small. Two of the areas of focus that CLIA were now working on, following the Bright Spots Survey, were housing and issues relating to trust. J had co-facilitated training around this, with the objective for staff to understand that young people needed at least one trusted person in their life. Good collaboration and partnerships had formed while doing the piece of work and J hoped it would enhance his skill set.

C (CLIA) had been part of a commissioning panel for a targeted mental health and emotional wellbeing service for children and young people. C was also involved in the work on the Bright Spots Survey and was currently looking at how to get more responses from young people and the communications channels that could be used.

The Chair thanked those present for their contributions and invited members of the Committee to ask questions to the CIA / CLIA representatives. The following questions were raised:

Members were impressed with CIA / CLIA representatives presentations and felt that it had given them a good picture of what the group did. They had been particularly moved by the memory book T had shared with them. 

The Committee asked how more looked after children and care leavers could be encouraged to take part in CIA / CLIA. C advised that one of the benefits he used to encourage his peers to join was that there was a free meal for participants during or at the end of sessions. He felt that his peers needed a reason to turn up and therefore this was something that might entice someone to join.

The Chair highlighted the feedback that there was a lack of things to do at weekends and asked what CIA / CLIA would want to be available from the Council to help with access to activities during weekends. C acknowledged that this would depend on the age bracket, but there were several leisure centres in Brent. He thought the Council could speak to managers and owners of these leisure centres, such as the Trampoline Centre in Brent Cross, Inflate Nation in Colindale, and the Ball Park in Vale Farm to arrange a day every month where children could go to do different specific things. There would only need to be 3-4 activities and then children would have something to do every weekend. Within the care leaver age bracket, help with gym memberships and securing library cards, as well as dealing with overdue library bills, may help. Nigel Chapman (Corporate Director Children and Young People, Brent Council) would speak to Wembley Stadium about arranging a regular supply of event tickets for looked after children and care leavers. Kelli Eboji (Head of LAC and Permanency, Brent Council) added that the department were currently working on communications to children in care and care leavers about free access to all Brent Leisure Centres. The department also had allowances for gym membership contributions. There were also good links with local theatres and support from the Kiln where children and young people could get involved.

The Committee asked about the outcomes of the Bright Spots Survey. C advised members that the figures showed that fewer children and young people between the ages of 8-18 in Brent reported having a pet compared to the general population, and 1 in 10 survey respondents reported that they did not take part in any hobbies. Fewer young people reported regularly talking to their carers about the things that mattered to them, and in the ages of 4-7 fewer felt settled. The positives from the survey included the finding that all of the children who took part in the survey felt safe where they lived now, and 92% reported always feeling safe in their placements, which was noticeably higher than children in the general population.

In relation to the Bright Spots Survey, the Committee queried how 4-7 year olds had been surveyed. C advised that the questions had been phrased to them in a child friendly manner and then ‘aged up’ for inclusion in the survey.

Nigel Chapman (Corporate Director Children and Young People, Brent Council) advised that a report would be brought back to the Committee with all the details about the Bright Spots Survey, outcomes, and plans for the future.

The Committee thanked the representatives for the updates and RESOLVED:

That the updates by the representatives of Care in Action/Care Leavers in Action be noted.