Children in care celebrated

The world’s largest celebration of children and young people in care took place recently with many people from Cork taking part.

Foster carers, children in care, young people with care experience, social workers and many more joined in to celebrate Care Day with Tusla - Child and Family Agency and EPIC (Empowering People in Care). The Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr John Sheehan also joined in to celebrate the day as organisers held a coffee morning in the Tusla Fostering Resource Unit.

Bernard Gloster, CEO, Tusla, said: “One of the wonderful things about Care Day is the fact that it is designed by and run by children in care and those who have left care. We can learn so much from their experiences and we all need to recognise their influence in making care a service that is continuously improving.

“The added bonus of Care Day is that many young people with care experience use their talents and their voice to better inform all of us. I am very impressed not only by their talent but by their generosity in sharing their experience for the benefit of others,” added Mr Gloster.

This year’s Care Day was a global celebration of children in care with countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Croatia and Finland joining Ireland and the United Kingdom.

There are currently 5,971 children in care and 2,700 young adults in after care.

Terry Dignan, CEO, EPIC, said: “The success of Care Day over the past six years, and the interest expressed from other countries in Europe, Africa and Asia has shown us that the 4.3 million children living in formal alternative care, and the many millions more with care experience across the globe, are a community of children and young people that are effectively unrecognised and stigmatised.

“The voice of children in care has, until the very recent past, been silent, and here in Ireland we are just beginning to deal with the very dark legacy of our own history of institutional care,” the EPIC CEO said.