Total Respect – A Care Leavers Perspective

By Admin on July 14, 2017 • ( 0 )

Total Respect is a course delivered by young people/care leavers to embed a young person perspective of being or been in care. The key messages include the importance of listening and valuing young people. The course can be attended by foster carers and professionals and includes very interactive activities.

‘I think it’s great we get to deliver the course. It’s quite nerve racking standing in front of the participants and having to speak and explain things but the more you do it the more confidence you grow. I really enjoy doing it because it’s really nice to get to help the participants have a much deeper understanding of the young people they work with. It’s good to get to meet these people in person and it feels quite empowering too.’

‘I personally gained so much more confidence by facilitating the courses because it helps me meet and talk to new people and to be able to actually talk about care experiences in a way which is going to have a positive impact, it gives me encouragement to open up about experiences. It makes me feel really good knowing I could have helped just one young person get better treatment from professionals.’

‘Running these courses has had such a positive impact on me because it’s changed me as a person to have more confidence to talk to professionals and really fight for what I believe in it. This helps me remember that I can help people and makes me more determined to work with different people to help make a positive difference in people’s lives.’

‘I’ve learnt how to run and facilitate activities which in turn has helped me run my own activities with the CiCC. I’ve also learnt not to judge the professionals on their job title and remember they are actual people with feelings too. This has taught me how to talk about difficult experiences in a safe way. This has also helped my confidence so much that I can represent care leavers and all young people in care at national and local events’.

Chloe Willis, 19 – Care Leaver