Care Experienced Week 2024 runs from 19 to 26 October, and this national campaign signifies an annual opportunity to celebrate the Care Experienced community, championing their accomplishments and amplifying their voices.

One way that our Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) participates in the week each year is with our Open Day Care Leavers Celebration – an event that celebrates Glasgow’s care experienced individuals and highlights their achievements throughout the year.

The annual event – now in its 13th year – is organised by Arts in the City, an HSCP partnership-funded project designed to encourage and support care experienced individuals’ creativity through participatory arts opportunities. Although being organised by Arts in the City, young people are always at the heart of the event planning, performances and running of the event.

The event is hosted in Saint Luke’s and is an all-day celebration filled with music, performances, speeches and opportunities to recognise achievements. The open day also serves as an opportunity to highlight services and supports available to care experience young people through many information stalls filled with goodies to pick up and a chance to speak to friendly staff and volunteers.

This year, the theme was ‘Red Carpet’, a theme to reflect the importance of recognising the achievements of all care experienced young people.

Over 100 people attended the event, with the audience including social work staff, foster and supported carers, residential staff and various third sector partners who deliver support services to care experienced young people across the city. Most importantly of course, care experienced individuals themselves were in attendance to enjoy the day, with some performing on the stage.

The celebrations started with our HSCP’s Assistant Chief Officer for Children’s Services Karen Dyball, delivering a welcome address and recognising the incredible achievements of Glasgow’s care experienced young people.

She said: “The Care Experienced Open Day is a fantastic day of celebration. 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, including 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.”

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

•    a panel discussion led by WAC Pro members and Citizen Theatre on ‘Getting into theatre, TV & film’, and why it could be a good career path for young people
•    a performance by PJ Creepydoll, a care experienced young artist, and Becci Wallace from Articulate. Articulate is a charity that uses creativity to help care experienced young people get to wherever they want to go
•    a fantastic crowd choir and massaoke 
•    red carpet success awards to recognise the talent and achievements of staff, young people and anyone who deserved one

Thanks to Deni Smith, Development Worker for Arts in the City and the extended team for organising the open day along with care experienced individuals, ensuring this is a great day for young people, staff and support organisations to get together to promote resilience for all.

To find out more about Arts in the City, please visit www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/9476/Arts-in-the-City.