Conference 2025
On Saturday 15th February 2025, our Conference Delegates spent the day with us to gain insight and understanding of:
How Racism and Discrimination directly impacts of the lives of our Black Children and Young People in Care, and
How with the right support in place, our Black Children and Young People in Care are able to achieve and succeed
To start the day Millie Kerr acknowledged that it is uncomfortable to talk about race, yet challenging us to understand that through this discomfort we’ll be able to learn and ask ourselves and each what do we need to do to support our children, our young people and our communities better.
From here Millie took us on a journey to understand what is racism, how our Black Children and Young People are often treated when they are seen through the lens of racism, and how this plays out in their lives.
Millie also encouraged us to give Black Children their Flowers by praising them to help build their confidence, by praising them to help them feel good about themselves and praising them so that they feel loved and cared for and can see that they are able to achieve their dreams and goals.
Sheree and Olivia, shared their experience of how they created a safe space for 16 young people, fostered across the UK, to talk openly about living with racism.
This experience and the voices of the 16 are documented in their guide ‘Do You See Me?’, with Sheree and Olivia sharing that with the guide, the real work to bring about change at Five Rivers Child Care, begins now.
Baroness Lola Young, graced the stage and took us on whistle stop tour of her life in Care, painting visual pictures of how she was viewed and perceived, along with sharing her passion of being an avid reader wanting to learn about the world outside of the system of Care. Baroness also encouraged us not live out the negative beliefs of what we the Care Experienced are capable of, but to switch the narrative and think about how policy makers and legislators can help to make our lives as good as they possibly can be.
Our three Care Experienced Panel members, Shimron, Vanessa and Sekia, bravely shared their care experiences, and inspired us with hope to believe that regardless of our circumstances we are enough, regardless of what happened in our past does not define our entire future and that no matter where we begin in life we have the power to write our own story.
This years Legacy Award was awarded to David Akinsanya; and for those who didn’t know David was one of the leading voices and trailblazers of the 1980’s Black and In Care Group.
Conference footage will be available soon!
We look forward to seeing you at The Black Care Experience Conference 2026!
Saturday 26th March 2026
Manchester, UK
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Hear What They Are Saying About BCE Conference 2025