The National Confidential Forum has launched its Christmas Shine A Light On Care campaign to encourage people who experienced residential or institutional care in Renfrewshire as a child to have their voices heard.
The Forum hear testimony from people who experienced the care system as a child; record and report on what they hear; make recommendations for improvement and support and signpost people to assist their recovery from their experiences.
There are currently approximately 17,500 young people in residential or institutional care in Scotland and the Forum want to hear from anyone aged over 16 who has now left the institution they want to talk about.
During the festive period the Forum’s #ShineALightOnCare campaign will encourage care-experienced people in Scotland to have their voices heard and also highlight the fact that Christmas can be a very difficult time for people who have been in care.
#JourneyGroup it’s been the biggest honour & privilege of my life, thank you to every single person who shared their story with the @TheCareReview this honour would not have been possible without you all. I promise to continue to do all that I can for our movement. It’s our turn. pic.twitter.com/LsKIdeQnoM
— Beth-Anne Logan (@Beth_AnneLogan) December 17, 2019
Jayne Laidlaw, Head of the National Confidential Forum, said: “Adults who experienced care in childhood can suffer emotional pain and distress during the festive season from the memories of previous years filled with unhappiness, neglect or abuse.
“At a time when families are gathering together to celebrate, many care-experienced adults feel more isolated and alone with their thoughts.
“Many feel unable to articulate their distress to those close to them and some hide their trauma so as not to cause upset to their loved ones.
“I would urge anyone who has experienced residential care in childhood to speak in confidence to the National Confidential Forum and find relief and comfort by sharing the memories they have been carrying.
“We know from care-experienced people who have come to the Forum how much it helped them to heal and recover from their time in care as children, and how much their voices help Scotland to ensure we learn from the past and make things better for children in care now and in the future.”
Forum member Dr Tara Pennington-Twist, a consultant clinical psychologist, said: “We have heard varied experiences relating to Christmas, some of them have been really sad.
“We have heard from care-experienced people who have never really celebrated Christmas at any stage in their life.
“Some people went into care and never received any Christmas presents, never had any acknowledgement that it was Christmas, no Christmas dinners, none of those things you would expect children to enjoy at Christmas time.
“Equally, we have heard from care-experienced people who for the first time, when they entered care they were able to understand and celebrate Christmas in a way that they had never been able to do as children before they had gone into care.
“Christmas time can act as a trigger for care-experienced people. We have heard from people talking about the guilt they experience at Christmas when they receive presents because that was never their experience when they were in care or prior to them going into care.
“We would like to invite them to come along to the National Confidential Forum and have their voice heard.”
One care-experienced person who has already given their testimony to the National Confidential Forum said: “Because of all those years without celebrating Christmas, I’m now embarrassed when I receive a Christmas present.
“I don’t think it’s sufficient just to say, ‘Thank you’. I feel I should be really grateful and all these sort of things that go with it. That’s why I don’t like Christmas.”
Photo: Jayne Laidlaw from Shine A Light On Care