A new campaign is raising awareness of a forum for Scots to tell their stories about growing up in residential care
A forum set up to give people who grew up in care a chance to tell their stories has launched an awareness campaign.
The Shine a Light on Care campaign aims to highlight the work of the National Confidential Forum, which is recording people’s experiences of spending time as children in institutions.
The forum gives people the opportunity to tell their stories about their time in care, including discussing any abuse they may have experienced.
The Shine a Light campaign will appear on TV, radio, print, outdoor and digital advertising.
The forum sought support from care experienced people to develop the campaign.
Care abuse survivor and campaigner Helen Holland - who provides a voiceover for a 60-second advert that will run on STV and STV Player - has endorsed the campaign and is encouraging others to get in touch with the forum.
She said: “It’s important for organisations and the government to listen to those who have been in care. As children we were told no-one is interested, no-one cares, but by sharing experiences with the forum, we can be heard, we can make a change to society for the better and we can make a difference to how children are looked after in care in the future.
“I believe survivors need something like this. It’s vital that people have choices. The forum offers people a way of making their voice heard.”
Dr Rachel Happer, a clinical psychologist, is head of the National Confidential Forum.
She said: “Our aim is to listen to and truly understand the experiences people have had in care, without judgement. We want to give people a voice and use that to change things for the better. What we learn will be shared with government and the wider public through a national record and research findings, which will influence changes to policy and practice.
“We want more people to talk to us. We understand that it can be an extremely difficult decision for people to share their experience. We provide a fully supported process and our team is trained to help people make the right decision for them. I would urge others to think about sharing their experience of care. It could make a difference.”
What participants tell the forum will be used to create a national record which will include the anonymous, personal testimonies of participants. It will identify patterns and trends in the information received and make recommendations about policy and practice to improve care in Scotland.
The forum is independent of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, which is set to begin its third phase in October with a focus on residential care. It will begin with a case study about residential child care establishments run by Quarriers, The Aberlour Child Care Trust and Barnardo’s.
