Getting involved
Your voice really matters. Getting involved in your community.
You are not alone, we can support you to feel confident and in control of your life and to feel part of the community you live in and wider society. We will support you with advice and guidance around exploring your identity, culture and help you to maintain your faith and existing or new networks of support.
Your leaving care worker can support you to find clubs, events, places to go and if you want to, meet other care leavers.
We will also celebrate important life events with you, such as:
- your birthday
- religious events
- cultural events
To find out about different activities, look at the Visit Lincoln website. There is information on social media sites such as Facebook too.
Register to vote
Once you turn 18 you are entitled to vote in local and national elections. Voting can make a difference in the way local services are provided and can also be a positive for your credit rating.
To register to vote go to the Government website
Volunteering
Volunteering is a great way to get out of the house, opens up opportunities of learning and new experiences to people who may not have usually had that chance.
For some young people volunteering can simply be a way of giving back to the community or sharing their own skills and experience onto others.
It can also add to your CV or help you decide what career path you wish to follow.
New skills gained like communication, teamwork and decision-making can make you stand out from the crowd when applying to a college or job or can help you decide what career path you’d like to follow.
To find out about volunteering opportunities, contact your local community and voluntary service:
Another way of getting into volunteering is through the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. You get to experience a range of new activities and challenges, learn new skills and travel to new places with other young people.
Speak to your leaving care worker about this if you would like to apply or get more information.
You tell us what works
As a care experienced young person, you are the expert in your experiences, how we support you, what we could do better and how we shape our services.
We want to develop our offer to care leavers and that’s why we need you to give us your voice and to connect with other young people with similar experiences.
We are setting up a peer network, where young people can share their experiences and offer advice and guidance to others. It will include groups of representatives for their local area and advocates for:
• housing
• education
• LGBT
• different ethnicities
• young parents
We’d love you to be part of this! For more information, call Barnardo’s on 01522 575955 or speak to your social worker or leaving care worker.