Young people and staff went to Blackpool for the Game Changer Conference which was held at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. The conference was fun and very interactive, young people enjoyed being able to give their views and opinions about issues that were most important to them. There was a pre-conference consultation done in order to find out what the top issues for young people in NorthWest are, these issues were highlighted and discussed at the conference. These were :
- Feeling safe and free from Bullying
- Contact with birth family
- Being trusted by adults you live with
- Key trusted worker/Adult
Young people identified these four as the top important issues that matter to Looked after Children in the North West. Young people discussed these in their groups and gave feedback to everyone.
Blackpool’s local rapper Afghan Dan made an appearance and performed some of his latest music. He spoke about his own experience in the care system and how things need to be improved and changed so that outcomes for Looked after Children are improved.
The Oldham Children in Care Council were privileged to have Her Majesty’s Ofsted Inspector on our table and the young people had some really good conversations with her. One of the highlights for the young people was that she pledged to take back to the office the use of the word “LAC” and how abbreviations should not be used and young people should be called Looked after Children and not referred as just “LAC”.
After a brilliant conference the young people were given passes to the Blackpool Pleasure Beach and enjoyed the evening on the rides!
