A National Voice

A National Voice in a Wider Context of Social Care

A National Voice is a uniquely placed organisation. Unlike others who work with young people in/or leaving care A National Voice is led only by care-leavers.

A National Voice aims to provide a national platform to hear the voices of young people from care. Currently there are approx 58,000 children and young people in Care in England. We exist to make positive changes to the care system and we do this by ensuring a service user led approach. We consult with young people from Care and work to ensure that leading decision-makers are aware of, and act upon young peoples views.

We are not a service provider or indeed an advocacy service, with very few staff this would be impossible. However in our day to day work we try to provide as many opportunities as possible to hear the voices of young people from care. We do this by organising events for young people and also within our regular group forums. Another major part of the work we do includes working alongside the Department For Education and Skills, local authorities, youth organisations and other voluntary agencies to improve the care system.

ANV is led by a young persons Board of Directors who are a mixed group from all over England, all are care experienced and are aged 14-24. The group meets about 4 - 6 times a year and provides direction for the organisation. The group is facilitated by the National Co-ordinator and venue locations rotate around England.

We currently have two regional groups who meet regularly. These groups are also made up of care experienced young people. The South East forum meets in London and is facilitated by our South East Regional Development Worker. The North West has its own group who meet in Manchester and this group is facilitated by the North West Regional Development Worker.

Our aim is to become a fully independent charitable organisation in the future, obviously this will require time to develop and also some important fundraising work. To become a truly national representative organisation we will need to have office bases in each of the nine regions of England. We have written a three year business plan for potential funders to view. Since August 03 we have been hosted by The Prince's Trust who are responsible for the management of our finance and administration. Our link person at The Prince's Trust is James Cathcart.