AFC supporting Who Cares? Scotland & Aberdeenshire Council to help end the stigma of kids in care.
A national campaign to give a stronger voice to children and young people in care and leaving care by tackling discrimination head on is today supported by Aberdeen Football Club.
It’s time to listen is asking communities across Scotlandto pledge to listen to a looked after child’s side of their story – and to back the campaign to help stand up to ignorance about why children end up in care.
There are over 16000 children in care in Scotland and 450 in Aberdeenshire alone, along with 65 care leavers. Research shows that almost half of children in care are afraid of prejudice or bullying or of being treated differently if people find out about their care background.
The campaign aims to dispel the myths about children in care, simply by getting people to pledge to listen to their side of the story, as chances are, they are quite different to what we think we know about these children.It is urging people to help by showing children and young people in care and who have left care that they deserve to be part of their community. Scotland’s care leavers (that’s children who have been brought up by the state because their families couldn’t care for them) face dire outcomes.They face a future dogged with housing, employment, health and education issues.They are more likely to go to jail and to die younger than they should.They struggle to feel secure; settled and most importantly loved.
Aberdeen Football Club manager Derek McInnes said “Children in and from care need to be understood better across every community in Scotland.That is why this campaign matters and as a Club deep rooted in our local community we are delighted to be playing our part in the bid to end discrimination of children in care. I urge all supporters of Aberdeen FC to take their pledge to stamp out the stigma these children face in their day-to-day lives.”
Duncan Dunlop, Chief Executive of Who Cares Scotland said, “Most children end up in the care system because of the action of adults in their lives. We need to listen to their side of the story and make sure we believe in these children – and not the myths about them. The sector works hard for these children, and now we need the ordinary people of Scotland to support their cause.”
“Our vision for looked after children is that their care is done with them, instead of to them. But there is a substantial lack of understanding, awareness and empathy towards this vulnerable group within our society. That needs to change now – and we are asking the help of communities around Scotland to do it.”
To pledge to listen to children in care across the Aberdeenshire area, and keep up-dated about the campaign as it develops, please visit the website: http://www.whocaresscotland.org/pledge/
