You Can Do It Awards Ceremony – Including ALL Children

Last year, some of our lovely foster carers from the South West attended the annual Plymouth award ceremony for children in care called “You Can Do It.” Hear from them about how a simple conversation has made a big impact on the inclusivity of the future awards ceremonies.

M receives an award every year at the ceremony and this year he received one for resilience and for being kind and welcoming to another child coming into our home. M wanted us both to attend the awards with him, and our other foster child, S, is not yet in a position where we could have left her with someone else. We felt a little worried for S as she is a foster child from a different local authority which meant she wouldn’t be getting an award. We knew there would be around 200 children receiving an award that day and we thought she might wonder why she wasn’t getting one.

We arrived a little earlier than usual and I spotted someone setting the awards out ready to be distributed. I asked if there were any spare awards for S to help her to feel included and was pointed in the right direction to the gentleman in charge. He said of course, that would be okay! She wouldn’t have a certificate as she hadn’t received a nomination, but they could absolutely call her up for an award.

After M received his award, S was called up to receive hers for transitioning so well into our home. She was absolutely thrilled. She ran around, jumped for joy and danced her heart out. Many children in foster care can struggle with feelings of guilt or shame about being in care, but S took her award into school for her show and tell, stood in front of her class and told them how proud she was of her award. She explained that her Mummy and Daddy couldn’t look after her anymore and so she was living with us, who she chooses to call Nanny and Grandad.

What’s amazing is that the awards organisers will now change all future award nominations to include any other children in a household; be that foster children or birth children.

They hadn’t thought about it before and were grateful that we had brought it to their attention. We were over the moon to hear this and it just goes to show that it’s always worth asking. We hope future children who wouldn’t normally have received an award are as happy as S was to receive hers.