Life Long Links and Young People

Life long these two words put together can feel quite daunting but these two words can also add a new whole meaning to life, when we say life long we think about our life span we think about forever.

That is what life long means to our young people, its about having that someone you know you can go to for a coffee and a chat, someone to lean on in the hard times and someone who can give you the best advice. A life long link can be a parent, carer, foster parent, sister, brother, teacher, mentor and so on. Growing up in the care system can be challenging because not everything lasts and not everything is life long, we move home and we get to know new people quite often. We learn to adapt and handle whatever situation comes along.

The biggest difference made to our lives is when we have something that is consistent and having a life long link who can be there for you is such a big thing. Its the difference between facing a hard time alone where you are standing on your own two feet versus going through a hard time knowing there is someone there for you who has your back.

When we grow up our relationships are so important to us and that is why i beleive in the system nationally we should do more to ensure young people don`t leave care alone but leave care knowing they do have life long links around them and lasting relationships. Young people look upto us to ensure they understand and know what a healthy relationship is and as adults we should be supporting them to make positive connections in their lives and most importantly supporting them to maintain connections into adulthood.

When do we decide a young person is an adult and how do we measure this? The answer is we dont decide when someone turns into an adult we support them to make the transition, if you are a parent you above all know what I am talking about. Its about making sure your young person is able to learn skills like cooking, cleaning etc. It sounds easy when you say it but when you do it sometimes it does take some of us that little bit longer to feel grown up. From attending a national conference where i spoke to other induviduals who had grown up in the care system they shared life long links as something that really mattered to them.

I hope one day we are able to ensure every person on the planet has a life long link in their life, young people in and out of the care system, this is about everyone not just a cohort of young people but every young person growing up right now. We can stand alone and be strong but when we stand united we can be stronger together. Lets be here for eachother. Lets be that life long link we all need in our lives.