Care Leaver Campaign
From lobbying in the UK House of Lords to appearing on Sky News — why we are pushing for care leavers to be treated as a protected characteristic.
What a day.
From lobbying in the UK House of Lords to appearing on Sky News.
But why?
The suicide of a care leaver, Nonita, is a tragic example of how the care system has for too long been unfit for purpose.
We are trying to change that.
Too many care leavers are taking their own lives, too many care leavers are facing unfit living conditions and ending up homeless, criminalised or dead.
- Care leavers' life expectancy is 20 years lower than the average.
- By age 24, 52% of looked after children had a criminal record.
- 1 in 3 care leavers face homelessness 2 years after leaving care.
These are figures we shared in the House of Lords, as we push for systemic change.
And it starts in the classroom — the mismanagement of trauma by teachers, ignoring the calls for help.
It starts in every nook and cranny in society, with our employers, our lenders, our judges, our police.
It starts with all of us.
We are pushing to get Government to change the legislation and treat care leavers as if they were a protected characteristic.
Because Nonita's death was not the only one, and we cannot, as a society, allow this to continue.
A massive thank you to Terry Galloway and Chris Wild who have been campaigning for care leavers relentlessly and are an inspiration to me and should be to us all.
Thanks also to Darren Paffey MP, Baroness Anne Longfield and Chris Law MP for facilitating this campaign at the House of Lords and giving care experienced people a voice where it is needed the most.
Lastly, thanks to Nick Martin and everyone at Sky News for welcoming us and giving us the opportunity to have this platform.
Be a part of the solution, or complicit in the problem.