Articles & Opinion Looked After Children Outcomes/Policy

A Család Az Család: What we have learnt from 15 years of same-sex adoption and fostering in England

(This article has been written to help inform an audience in Hungary as well as those interested in the topic in the UK. It is the intension of the author to have the text translated into Hungarian in the...

December 30, 2020

Articles & Opinion

Change: It’s a piece of CAKE

Over the last six months as the world has locked down and battled with the pandemic, we have heard a lot of talk about the need to “Build Back Better”. I have highlighted elsewhere that “local voluntary...

October 22, 2020

Articles & Opinion Marginalised & Excluded

Cleaning up fast fashion

At the time of writing, the city and suburbs of Leicester were under local lockdown due to a spike in Covid-19 cases, with allegations that this was linked to some garment factories that had not only continued...

October 16, 2020

Category - Articles & Opinion

Articles & Opinion

Social work with children and families in the pandemic by Professor Brid Featherstone

This blog post was originally published on the Research in Practice website. This blog is informed by responses to an enquiry on Twitter in the week beginning the 30 March in which I asked what guidance was available to social workers when...

April 7, 2020

Articles & Opinion Marginalised & Excluded

Speed boats not steamships: What is the response to the pandemic telling us about community development and the state of local government

The second full week of lockdown has ended. Across the UK most people have complied with government directives to “stay at home” and instead of anger there has been an outpouring of local social action. If you are an isolated and vulnerable person...

April 6, 2020

Articles & Opinion Marginalised & Excluded

Will the pandemic kill the selfish I?

As we lock ourselves down to protect the NHS and save lives, there has been a huge focus on supporting the isolated and vulnerable. Across the UK, a wide range of support groups and community groups have sprung into action. Thousands have stepped...

March 31, 2020

Articles & Opinion General

Can the invisible hand help us wipe our bottoms?

As we entered 2020, I doubt if any of us imagined the UK caught in a pandemic that is threatening the health of the nation and devastating the global economy. Throw in the recent floods and growing concerns about climate change and it does feel like...

March 24, 2020

Articles & Opinion

Michael Rosen condemns UK education system’s ‘fear of laughter’

In an “oppressive” education system, children need the release of humour to make the world less frightening, according to the former children’s laureate Michael Rosen. Revealing the winners of the Laugh Out Loud awards, which celebrate the year’s...

February 6, 2020

Articles & Opinion

Not listening to Children? Individual Bad Practice or a Confusing System!

I have been a children’s advocate for many years and have represented children where there have been child protection concerns as well as children living within the care system. As a children’s advocate my role is to ensure that...

February 4, 2020

Articles & Opinion

Together We Can: Wealth creation and community development by Kieran Breen

Leicestershire Cares is a local charity and membership organisation that seeks to connect business with the local community, so nobody is left behind. I have been working for Cares for three years and many of our “simple” truths are ever more...

January 14, 2020

Articles & Opinion Looked After Children

Birthday cakes, rockets and washing machines: How Fuzzy logic can empower young people

Imagine you gathered a group of people together and gave them the ingredients and instructions to bake a cake. If they followed the instructions eventually, they should all be able to bake a cake. At a much bigger level if you gathered your top...

August 7, 2019

Articles & Opinion

Are we turning back the clock on LGBTQ+ rights?

Recent events in Birmingham and Manchester are a stark reminder that in 2019 same-sex relationships are still highly contested among some people. I was born in 1975 and there has been a seismic shift in attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people in my lifetime...

March 25, 2019

Articles & Opinion Looked After Children

All you need is love and a village?

(This article first appeared on the website of The Howard League For Penal Reform) A few weeks ago I wrote an article that set out to explain why almost thirty years after the Children Act became operational many care experienced young people still...

March 21, 2019

Category - Articles & Opinion

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