"I wanted to meet Mr Johnston because he has the power to do something"

A group of young care leavers met with the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, David Johnson on Tuesday, March 5, to talk about the impact of children in care being moved far away from the people and places they love.

The young people have worked with Become, the national charity for children in care and young care leavers, on its campaign Gone Too Far, to raise awareness of the high numbers of children who are moved miles away from everything they know and love, often without warning due to a shortage of local foster homes and children’s homes. One in five children are moved more than 20 miles away, disrupting their education, their relationships, including with brothers and sisters, and impacting on their mental health.

The meeting came about after A-level student Lamar (pictured left of Mr Johnston) wrote to the Minister to ask if he would hear her experiences and those of others in the group, and to find out what plans he has to prevent children being moved far away.

Lamar, who lives in Portsmouth, was sent over 100 miles away to Luton for two weeks’ respite care last year when her foster carer went on holiday. The move happened just before her GCSEs, and Lamar didn’t know it was Luton she was being sent to, the closest option, until the day it happened.

“Being moved so far away at such an important time left me feeling isolated and lonely. I didn’t know anyone or where the shops were. I didn’t have any friends. I don’t want this to keep happening to other children.

I wanted to meet Mr Johnston because in his role he has the power to do something. During the meeting he was writing down our points and at the end I asked him how I would know he wouldn’t just throw his notes away. I also asked how he could make it into policy but he said he doesn’t write the policies.

With the election coming up, I just want whoever ends up in power to take children seriously. Children aren’t heard until they’re an adult, or unless they’ve spoken up several times, but it takes a lot for a child to speak up in the first place and so often they’re ignored.

I’m hoping Mr Johnston will come to the screening of our Gone Too Far film at the House of Lords on March 19. I've invited him. It's a special event to show those in power what being moved far away really feels like. There'll also be another film, Raw Gods, made by Hackney Council’s children in care council, which follows a teenager in care on the day they are moved to somewhere they don’t know, miles from their family and friends.

Let’s see if David Johnston will come.”

CEO of Become, Katharine Sacks-Jones, was also at the meeting (pictured far left) says:

“We’re so proud of Lamar, for having made direct contact with Mr Johnston to ensure her voice is heard. Nothing is more important than for people who make decisions about the children’s social care system to listen to the views of those with experience of it.

The care system is in crisis and Lamar, the rest of the group and all the other young people we work with have to live with the consequences of that every day. We hope Mr Johnston will take away the views of the young people and really think about what he can do to keep children close to the people and places that matter to them and reduce instability in the care system.”

Become is the national charity for care-experienced children and young people. We put young people at the heart of everything we do, supporting them to get the help they need now and empowering them to bring about change in their own lives, the care system and society.

Please find more information on Become’s #GoneTooFar campaign on our website

MPs have been invited to attend a screening of a film, made by care-experienced young people as part of the #GoneTooFar campaign, at the House of Lords on March 19.

These two short, thought-provoking films reveal the reality for children in care being moved miles away from the places they love and shed light on this critical issue for care experienced children and young people.