Children and young people who are care experienced have a lot to celebrate, and Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership’s (HSCP) Care Experienced Open Day is one way that we support and celebrate the achievements and talents of care experienced individuals. This is an annual event led by young people, which takes place at the end of Care Experienced Week (a UK-wide event).

Young people who are care experienced often face many obstacles and work very hard to overcome these and can go on to achieve great things. Their achievements are many and varied.  

Our Care Experienced Open Day is where young people celebrate these achievements and is an opportunity for partners to share and recognise these achievements.  It’s also an opportunity for young people to either talk about their experiences or to showcase their talents in performance.
 
At our Open Day while young people entertained us, there was a strong reminder that more has to be done to ensure young people in care and after care are provided with everything a child should expect – from love and care and a settled and safe place to live to opportunities to thrive in the arts, gain education and employment opportunities.

We witnessed powerful words in a young person’s poem of her life, young people writing and performing songs and talking about gaining a full-time job / qualifications with support from the Care Leavers Employment Service / Launchpad.  In addition, we were entertained over lunch by a young DJ mixing up some great tunes that kept the celebratory atmosphere going.

At this year’s event some of the highlights were:

• Evan performing his own very catchy song ‘Glasgow Girl’
• Chloe’s poem being beautifully read by an actor’s voice with powerful words
• Stephanie talking about how Central Continuing Care and Aftercare Services had supported her to find a job and how they continue to support her
• Barry singing whilst playing guitar and later playing a short classical piece on the piano; superb talent
• Toni talking about gaining qualifications with support and then singing beautifully
• Presentations from Articulate / Resilience Learning Partnership / Young Advocates from The Fostering Network
• A fabulous and supportive message from Karen Dunbar aka Otto from ‘The Simpsons!’ 
• Chloe and Genna compering the whole day and
• Halloween Horror Audio drama from the WeRCitz2 Drama Group.

The day was finished off with a Massaoke – Mass Karaoke where we all sang ‘Lean on Me’ together and joined in with Evan for a second time to sing ‘Glasgow Girl’. 

The event was additionally important this year for Glasgow’s Care Experienced Young People – as the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions from March 2020 onwards had a negative impact on many of our young people’s physical and mental health.  It was great to be together again and see everyone, even behind our face coverings!  

Liz Simpson, Head of Children’s Services (North West) for our HSCP, said: “The Care Experienced day is a fantastic day of celebration. This year we were treated to amazing singing and poetry, and led by two fantastic comperes. It’s also a strong reminder that we still need to improve the experiences for young people in care, and everything they need to become successful adults, employment opportunities, access to supports and a home that’s right for them.  As we look to review and improve services, I hope that the young people involved in this event will help us transform services so young people can thrive and reach their potential”. 

Thanks to Clare MacAulay, Development Worker, Arts in the City for organising the Open Day and ensuring this is a great day for young people, staff and support organisations to get together to promote resilience for all.