Care Day and Festival of Care 22

SECTION NEWS & EVENTS Care Day and the Festival of Care 2022

Care Day takes place on the third Friday in February each year. A day of celebration and unity, which originated in Scotland in 2015, and is now recognised across the UK and internationally as an opportunity to celebrate the lives and voices of Care Experienced people.

This year Care Day fells on Friday 18th February and the theme was ‘community’. Care Day also saw the start of Shetland’s third Festival of Care - Tending the Light.

Care Day Highlights

Along with 4 other charities from across the UK and Ireland, we hosted Conversations with the Care Community, which saw Care Experienced people explore a digital village and discuss the themes of education, transitions, accessing information and recreation, in the setting of community. These conversations were then used to make a Care Day special podcast which you’ll find on our website.

ACE and Aberdeen hosted their own ‘Northern Lights Care Festival’ celebrating the young people who are a source ‘light’ during times of uncertainty.

In partnership with Highland Council and Eden Court, our highland team held an event in Inverness featuring a live DJ, photobooth and bingo.

Members met with the Minister for Children and Young People to discuss community and advocacy.

Care Day Spotlight on East Ayrshire

To celebrate Care Day 2022 in East Ayrshire, Who Cares? Scotland teamed up with our neighbours at Centrestage for an afternoon of fun!

We welcomed around 35 people, 18 of them Care Experienced children and young people, to our new home in the heart of Kilmarnock.

The team at Centrestage provided information on the work they are doing and the activities they have on offer for all ages and gave our younger guests the opportunity to play some games and have a singsong.

The Who Cares? Team provided an informal information session, outlining the work we do on a local and national level and taking questions from carers and professionals.

We finished with a scribble session and a buffet tea, where we asked what activities young people and carers would like to see for local members, and how we can best support our Care Experienced Community to have their voice heard.

If you want to find out more about Who Cares? Scotland in East Ayrshire can support you, please just get in touch! Details on the back of Speak Out!

FOC22 Highlights

Tending the Light, Shetland’s Festival of Care 2022 asked what it takes for us to Tend the Light and keep the beacons burning brightly for Care Experienced people across Scotland? What is the light that we are tending? Is it the light of The Promise, the light of love and care, of doing things differently? Is it tending our own light, making sure it burns brightly so it can be seen by those who need it? Is it the light of our Care Experienced people, nurturing their own inner beacons, supporting them to shine brightly, lifelong?

The festival lasted 5 days and saw flag raisings and illuminations across Scotland. People built their own lighthouses to celebrate. Shetland hosted the Home and Belonging exhibition, Minecraft workshops, verbatim theatre performances and the book launch of Take a Walk in My Shoes, an extraordinary book about what it is to be a person of any age who has experienced the care system. Co-produced by members of the #SHETLANDCREW and poet Jen Hadfield.

Special thanks to our corporate partners at Ashurst, who celebrated the Festival of Care at their Glasgow office!

The final event of the Festival of Care was the Twilight Gathering. This online event brought together Care Experienced people, decision makers and corporate parents to talk about mental health, relationships, wellbeing and ‘tending the light’ for Care Experienced people. Over 90 people attended the event, including Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care Kevin Stewart and Deputy First Minister John Swinney.

The event kicked off with a panel discussion with: Lynda Greig from our National Representative Body, Megan Moffat from the Who Cares? Scotland Board and Children & Young People’s Commissioner Bruce Adamson. Each responded to the overall question of what it means to tend the light for Care Experienced people before answering questions from the audience.

Local groups then shared how they have been working to promote change around mental health, this included a verbatim theatre piece from the #SHETLANDCREW, a presentation from the North Lanarkshire ‘Today Not Tomorrow’ group, a video from the East Lothian Champions Board and an Angus group presented their findings from a local survey. NRB member, Lynda, also presented findings from our Annual Participation Programme Mental Health report which you find out more about on pages 16-17.

Interactive Festival Map designed by Anupa Gardner

FOC22 Spotlight on the Twilight Gathering