1. BUILDING CONNECTIONS Sons and daughters and fostered children working together

2. Who we are Core team of 4 participation workers, admin, sessional workers and manager 20 sessional and assistant sessional workers in the NE and the South Young people with experience of care and young people who are sons and daughters – members of fostering households.

3. The Leading our Lives Team

4. What is the project? 3 year project – Big Lottery funded Part of the Fostering Network History of working with young people Aim to increase participation of young people within fostering and related services in England and achieve change!

5. Why should young people participate? ‘Experts through experience’ Opportunity to interact and gain skills Share common experiences & give a voice Build a peer support network Actively contribute to the services they receive

6. How has Leading our Lives enabled young people to participate? Training Campaigning Working with groups (e.g. S&D’s) Creative activities

7. Mapping/networking Panel training Media/campaigning training Regional Forum Sons & daughters’ events Development work with sons & daughters Creative Board REVO Questionnaires Conferences Mapping/networking Panel training Media/campaigning training Sons & daughters’ events Development work with sons & daughters Skills to foster part 2 Train the Trainers Creative Board Mapping/networking Panel training Mapping/networking Panel Training Mapping/networking Panel Training What have we been doing so far?

8. Chart showing events run or attended by members of Leading our Lives from October 2007 to May 2010

9. Young People’s Training Media and Campaigning training Train trainers The Skills to Foster Panel training

10. Media and Campaigning Training What is it? - A training program run over two days - Teaching the basics about campaigning and how young people can get involved (APGs, visiting MPs, who to contact) - Teaching young people how to handle the media in interviews, both print and radio.

11. Train the Trainers What is it? -Aims to equip young people with presentation and participation skills enabling them to lead on training sessions. -Encourages young people to take part in delivering The Skills to Foster -Transferable skills applicable to many other fields

12. Panel Training What is it? –A training programme for young people aged 18 and over with experience of fostering. –Equips young people with the skills necessary to sit and actively contribute to a fostering panel

13. Consultations and Campaigning Questionnaires for sons and daughters Regional forum Contacting MPs Taking messages forward

14. Benefits for young people -Opportunity to network -Learn more about services they receive -Actively contribute and improve services -Are continually updated on new opportunities (4Talent, MTV, writing, workshops) -Builds confidence

15. Working with existing groups Sons and daughters Children in Care Councils Regional Forum ANV FCAs

16. Creative Board REVO Films Photography Workshops/Exhibitions Dance / D.J /Graffiti/Storyboarding Drama

17. What have they produced? Award winning film in MTV’s BOOM! Project Video on the National Minimum Standards A song and music video to go with it REVO Photography- Exhibitions at IFCO and London City Hall September Showcases in London and the North East

18. What will the project be doing until September? Photography project – exhibitions Showcase event- London Train the trainers for young people – North East and London REVO 6 Panel Training East Midlands London Sons and Daughters awards August

19. Project messages Bringing sons and daughters and Care Experienced young people together Training for sons and daughters Young people on fostering panels Enabling young people’s stories to be heard. Creating a platform to allow young people to show their skills

20. ‘‘The project helps to build fostering families through getting care experienced and sons and daughters together to help them get along’’ Thomas

21. ‘‘I was deeply intrigued and touched by the personal experiences that were shared by others and felt safe in such an environment to discuss my own personal experiences, in the hopes of informing and educating others.” Care leaver, Swapping Lives Event

22. “I often think the sons and daughters are forgotten when it comes to being appreciated for their contribution to the family especially when foster children come to stay. Often award dinners and appreciation is only for the foster carers and I think that it is important that sons and daughters of foster carers are recognised for the contribution that they make.”