Running annually since 2015, Care Day is a joint initiative between five children’s rights charities across the UK and Ireland under the 5 Nations 1 Voice alliance. The day is an opportunity to challenge misconceptions about care and tackle stigma and prejudice that care-experienced individuals face by amplifying the stories, achievements and contributions of those with care experience.
Participating in this year’s celebrations, is the award winning multi-disciplinary CAMHS team in Lichfield. The team delivers specialist mental health assessment, support and advice for children and young people aged 0 – 18, including children and young people in care, adoptive families, those in the care of extended family and care leavers.
Cameron Shields, Consultant for Lichfield CAMHS commented, “As a corporate parent, we recognise the challenges that care-experienced children and young people face throughout their life course, but most importantly, we acknowledge their extraordinary resilience despite such adversities and we want to celebrate that by elevating the voices of those with care experience.
“This year’s theme for Care Day is, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover, embrace our stories instead’, so members of the team have produced a designated area in our waiting room where visitors can read six-word stories by care-experienced young people, embrace stories of inspirational care-experienced celebrities and make a wish for children and young people in care, using our wish tree.”
You can get involved in Care Day 2023 by sharing your message of support on social media, using the hashtags #CareDay23 and #CareAware.