Voice of the child Archives - Antser

Sharing The Voice of Young People

Corinna — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 10:21:13 +0000

Following on from their recent article in which they discussed the importance of listening to the voice of the child, our Education Lead, Joy Waelend, and Children’s Services Manager, Marianna Nicolaou, are continuing their conversation – this time, with a member of the Children in Care Council in Bristol.

Cassidy Westlake, aged 17, is currently studying Level 3 Animal Management. She spoke passionately to the pair about her experience as a young person in care and how we, as adults, can help to improve the life chances of children and young people.

Cassidy is a member of the Children in Care Council in Bristol, which has worked closely with a group of young people throughout lockdown and provides children involved with the platform to share their voice.

She said: “I thought it was a great project and the more I learned about what they do for other people, I couldn’t not join it.

For the Independent Visitors, we decide how and when you have visits with other people, and we go out and do really fun things together”.

Here at Antser we understand that some young people are led to believe they are powerless and can’t make a difference. For Cassidy, being part of the Children in Care Council has challenged that stigma and posed a “great opportunity for learning independent skills and for actually getting your voice heard.”

She said: “In most cases, people think children in care are just another one in the system and are never going to achieve anything good in life, so it’s great that there are people are out there who truly believe we can do good in life and are listening to us.”

“Some of my peers have treated me differently due to growing up in care, especially in secondary school. I think because of our upbringings and being in care, many believe that we will carry on with that bad childhood and misbehave, which is not the case.”

Sharing her thoughts to those who have misjudged her in the past, Cassidy has only kindness and positivity in her reply and outlook on life: “I am doing well now and continue to do so. I am very focused on doing well in the future.”

When asked what is the one thing that has kept her motivated over the years, Cassidy said it was down to her love of animals. “I have always been set in my mind that I wanted to work with animals,” she said. “I have been around them all my life and what motivates me is that I would like to help them.”

Joy, who previously worked in education for over 40 years before joining the team at Anster, said: “I think you are amazing. Due to being a headteacher, I have worked with several children and young people who are in care and you remind me of them. Many think because they were in care they were never going to achieve anything, and I can imagine once you’re in that mindset, it is hard to get out of it. To hear how determined and passionate you are, I know you will be a great inspiration to those who are in care.”

Throughout her journey, the support from close peers has helped Cassidy immensely to share her voice.

She said: “My foster carer at the moment and my best friend have been great and have always supported me. Although I have only been with my foster carer since September, as I moved from a previous foster home of 8/9 years, she has been really supportive.

“My foster carer definitely encourages me to have a voice and always listens to me, and same goes for my best friend.”

Sharing her opinion on the government and current state of the social care sector for children, Cassidy said: “When people say they are struggling – even if they don’t look like they are – it is best to just listen to them and provide support. Just the smallest amount of help will go a long way.

“Something has to be done even if fundraising is put in place.”

“From experience, you only say you are struggling when you reach a bad point. If you are struggling even just a little bit, people tend to not speak up. So when people do say something, it is important that we listen and then do something about it.”

Listening makes all the difference. Reflecting on her past experiences, Cassidy shared that when she spoke about her troubles, she was listened to, which has, in turn, allowed her to become the person she is today.

“During my time at school, while there were many teachers who did listen to me, at the same time there were many who didn’t. It felt like they didn’t even care to hear my voice.

“Listen more, instead of brushing it under the carpet. All you need to do is listen. People will only say they are struggling when they’ve hit their worst, so listen when they do and be there to help.”

Find out more about Antser’s advocacy for children in care here.

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Listening to the Voice of the Child

Corinna — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 16:18:24 +0000

By Joy Waelend and Marianna Nicolaou

At this crucial time, children and young people need to have their voices heard more than ever. Over the past year, the effect the Covid-19 crisis has had on adults has been highlighted heavily, whereas we rarely hear about the implications for children and young people, from a young person’s perspective.

As restrictions begin to lift, it has been reported that Britain is now facing a ‘mental health crisis’ with new analysis revealing that 400,000 children sought help for mental health problems as a result of the pandemic. While people of all ages have been negatively affected over the last 12 months, children and young people have been found to be particularly susceptible.

We all know that services pre-pandemic were overrun and caseloads were at an all-time high and now there is agreement that since COVID this situation has only worsened, with more services – and professionals – under increased strain.

As part of our service delivery we, like many other professionals, have had to change our way of working. From being a service which ran predominately through face-to-face delivery, we have taken a 360 degree turn into the virtual world. There is some evidence that young people’s voices are being heard more in this new virtual world and therefore we need to identify how we retain these practices in the post-pandemic world.

As humans, sometimes we can listen, but we don’t hear, or we hear and we don’t listen. Historically, children were taught to be “seen and not heard” but without listening, we cannot assume that we understand their needs, requirements or concerns. For many children and young people, there can be several other factors affecting their behaviour and so it is important to get beneath the surface to understand the wider issues and provide the right response.

We’re passionate about ensuring children have a voice and this runs through our work on independent visiting, advocacy and participation. Our service is focussed on obtaining the views of children and young people. We all understand the difficulties faced when speaking to young people over the phone or through a video call, however, with persistence, consistency and the foundation of a positive relationship, we have achieved engagement with at least 80% of our service users virtually. During the pandemic we, like everyone, worked differently and what we have learnt is by keeping in touch with young people, this empowers, encourages and supports positive mental health.

Our Children in Care Council workers have worked closely with a group of young people throughout lockdown to ensure their voice is being heard and that we understand the effects it was having on them.

Our Independent Visitors (IVs) have also been invaluable; they play a vital role in a young person’s life. The pandemic has meant young people have had limited contact with their support network, such as friends and relatives, and so our focus has been on ensuring this has been maintained. Young people are now bored of phone calls and because of this we have delivered Zoom training to our IVs and implemented age appropriate session plans. Virtual sessions have included Bake Offs, movie nights, quizzes, treasure hunts and even virtual escape rooms.

Sometimes, in our work to listen to children and young people, we have to find different and creative ways to do this. This could be because they are select mute, non-verbal or SEN and so listening is not always about what people say, but how they choose to communicate in their own way, such as via body language. A young person is always telling us something, the question is, are we always listening?

The truth is, there is never a situation where we shouldn’t be listening. Indeed, there aren’t any circumstances we can think of where a situation has been made better by not listening to what a child or young person has to say. Shutting them down is inappropriate. The VR films we develop here at Antser show that young people need a voice and showcase the potential resulting situations that can arise when they haven’t had that opportunity.

The voices of our young people, whether they be big or small, are so significant in how we shape our work and practices. By listening it has helped us to deliver our service in a more dynamic and focussed way, which has enabled us to maintain our positive contact with young people.

All we need to do is listen.

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