Care Day 2023

The 17^th February marks Care Day 2023. An opportunity to celebrate the rights of care experienced children and young people. This is a joint initiative of five children’s rights charities across the UK and Ireland. The theme for this year is #KnowAboutCare. The aim is to challenge common misconceptions about care and tackle the stigma and prejudice that care experienced people face.

Here at Biscoes we like to champion care leavers. In 2021 we signed the Care Leavers Covenant; we have pledged to actively promote appropriate opportunities to care leavers. We have identified a Special Point of Contact in Biscoes who care leavers can contact for guidance, before, during and after their application process.  We offer a guaranteed interview, and constructive feedback, to any applicants who identify as care experienced and who meet the minimum criteria for the role. We will be assigning a workplace buddy for any care leaver employees. Finally, we understand that our care leaver employees will potentially face challenges in their personal lives, with a high level of disruption, we undertake to approach these with compassion and empathy.

There is no doubt that care leavers diversify the workforce, you might not find someone who fits your usual mould, but someone who challenges, who rocks the boat, and adds to the culture shouldn’t be overlooked. Biscoes have recognised this and it would be wonderful if we could inspire just one more employer to sign up the Care Leavers Covenant.

Recently we have gone one step further in supporting our local care leavers future. Sarra Gravestock, director and Head of Care and Adoption has recently taken on a role at Shaping Portsmouth as lead of their care leavers programme. The programme is in its infancy but already is showing signs of success. Keep an eye on our social media platforms next week to read about Jack who started his pathway to employment on 14^th February 2023.