Kent Cares Town

Everyone had insightful questions around national offers of support, education and stigma, as well as long-term social work reforms. Minister Daby was approachable and reassuring, with promises to further research these concerns.

Following this discussion, the group was invited on a private tour of Parliament. This was certainly one of the highlights of the day and opened up a world of history.

The young people’s final thoughts were:

• “The Minister listened to my thoughts and took what I said on board.”
• “We were fortunate to not only be invited on such a wonderful day, but also to have our opinions truly valued and actioned for further debate…it shows a changing attitude towards social care.”
• “I feel really heard by being invited to Parliament to speak with the Minister and the general experience was super!”
• “It was very interesting and I’m happy I got to represent people in care and RBWM and meet the Minister.”
• “It was a great experience to be able to meet one of the many important ministers and we gained more knowledge about how they are going to help us!”

Georgie and Nathan, the VSK Participation Team

The January Participation Team newsletter has just been sent out! 📩 We send out newsletters three times a year to share what the team has been up to - our fun activity days, interesting projects, updates on our council groups as well as any other events that have happened in the last couple of months.

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We kicked off the Summer with our Corporate Parenting Event at the Malling school in Maidstone. This event celebrated the importance of Corporate Parenting and gave young people the opportunity to meet with some of their Corporate Parents, including the Chairman of Kent County Council and the Chair of Corporate Parenting Panel, as well as senior Directors, Assistant Directors, and Service Managers from within Integrated Children’s Services. We were also pleased to welcome representatives of the Children’s Commissioner at the event. Young People and their Corporate Parents had the chance to bake and decorate nature inspired cupcakes together and design and create bug hotels and bird feeders.  

Throughout the Summer, we held many activity days across the county. Young People enjoyed the rides at Diggerland in Strood, paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing near Canterbury and bushcraft at Shorne Country Park near Gravesend. There were also lots of opportunities for animal spotting, with trips to Port Lympe and Wingham Wildlife Park and a day for disabled young people and their households at the Rare Breeds Centre in Ashford. Younger children enjoyed Teddy Bear Picnics with games and arts and crafts.

It was brilliant seeing so many familiar faces and meeting lots of new young people too and we’re already looking forward to the October School Holiday!

Adoption Picnic

On Friday 11th August, we held our Annual Summer picnic for our Adopted Families. The Young People had a chance to see Captain Fantastic do some magic tricks, balloon making and party entertaining! The families also got the opportunity to see and hold some reptiles including snakes, spiders and lizards.It was a lovely day for all families to get together and have some fun in the sun. As well as getting their crafts hands on at our arts and crafts stalls. The Young People made their own DIY suncatchers and for the little ones they decorated their own henry the hedgehog. It was a great day had by all!

This year, we decided to do things a little bit differently and hosted the event at Marleybrook House, a beautiful venue near Canterbury with its own funfair. Young people and their guests had the opportunity to play garden games, experience all the funfair had to offer and of course, receive their awards from senior staff and elected members, including KCC’s Chairman, Mr. Gary Cooke.

It was brilliant to be able to recognise all the young people’s hard work in their education and in the community and celebrate all of their achievements this year. Many of the young people’s stories were incredibly inspiring, showcasing their resilience, determination and perseverance to do their very best, often in the face of adversity. We are already looking forward to next year!