📣 Taking children’s experiences of care to the heart of the Senedd
It was an honour this month to present young people’s experiences of care as part of a special exhibition organised by our team in the Senedd. It came after months of working with young people in order to tell their stories, including the ‘Hope’ group from Neath Port Talbot. Some of the very impactful quotes from this include:
🗣️ “I went from being one of nine to the only one. That was hard.”
🗣️ “I’ve moved 5 times and it’s always been in black bags”
🗣️ “My Foster Carer is trying to make me pay for my boxes and bags to move.”
We’ll be publishing a report in the near future emphasising the important messages from the exhibition and calling for changes in care experienced young people’s experiences.
🎥 You can watch a video of the exhibition here.
📰 Calling for action: Reports and Opinion pieces
👇 The Commissioner has published several materials this month outlining the rights challenges facing children in Wales and calling on the Welsh Government to act, including in our annual report.
🔗 Our Annual Report contains a range of policy recommendations that are vital to protecting children’s rights in Wales – including on mental health, public transport, and vaping.
🔗 The Commissioner wrote this piece for WalesOnline outlining the terrible situation facing children and young people in regards to transport to school
🔗 In this piece for Nation Cymru, the Commissioner highlights the need to support children, young people and their families when considering the high levels of childhood obesity in Wales
🔗 And in another Nation Cymru article for Universal Children’s Day, the Comissioner considers the main challenges in policy affecting children in Wales as children’s rights celebrate their 100th birthday.
🌍 Celebrating Universal Children’s Day with e-sgol
🎉 We welcomed over 1000 (yes, a thousand!) children and young people as part of online events with e-sgol this month to mark anti-bullying week and Universal Children’s Day. We had a lot of fun talking about rights, including through an interactive quiz.
🗓️ Universal Children’s Day takes place on the 20th of November each year; a day to celebrate children’s rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This year’s was particularly special, marking a hundred years since the first ever declaration of children’s rights was written by Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the Children.
🌈 Visit to ASD Rainbows
☕️ We met with staff, parents, and children at ASD Rainbows last week, all part of a short film we’re making about families’ experiences of fighting for additional learning needs support.
ASD Rainbows not only provide a much needed provision for children, but they also help and support families through what is all too often a difficult process. Thanks to the lovely staff for the warm welcome and for helping us hear important experiences.
🏠 The Hangout – new mental health and wellbeing hub
❤️ It was great to be at the launch of The Hangout run by Platfform in Barry – a walk in mental health and wellbeing support hub for young people opening next Monday. It’ll be open every day of the week, including weekday evenings. We’d love to see more of these spaces opening across Wales as part of a ‘No Wrong Door Approach’ to mental health care.