National Care Leavers Week takes place from 28 October to 3 November and we want to make Torbay's celebrations the biggest and best ever. National Care Leavers Week is an annual opportunity to celebrate Care Leavers and amplify their voices.

National Care Leavers Week is led by national charity Become and the Council will be working with a range of local partners to support the week.

Councillor Nick Bye, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “Care Leavers Week is a really important opportunity to highlight our local Care Experienced young people and we want to celebrate them but also make sure everyone is aware of the support that is available to our Care Experienced young people, both from Torbay Council and from other local organisations.

“So if you are a Care Experienced person in Torbay or you work with Care Experienced young people, please do get involved with the week’s activities, and if you are from a local organisation that is able to support the week in any way then please do get in touch with the Council’s Care Experienced team, they would love to hear from you.”

The theme for this year's Care Leavers Week is All of us, we are one. This theme is around

connecting communities. The theme for this year was voted for by Care Leavers.

There are also four aspects to Care Leavers Week based around the word Care:

• C - Celebrate Care Leavers
• A - Amplify their voices
• R - Raise awareness of challenges
• E - Encourage change in policy and practice.

A series of events and activities are being planned for the week.  These events include a Silent Disco, Quiz night and Wellbeing Day.

Care Leavers will also be sharing photos and testimonials about their experiences, and we are planning to light up the Bay for Care Leavers Week.

More details will be shared in the coming weeks but in the meantime there are a number of ways you can get involved.

How you can get involved with Care Leavers Week 2024

Look out for our social media channels and join in with the hashtags #NCLW and #NCLWTorbay

Sponsor the Care Experienced Team and young Care Experienced people in Torbay

Our Care Experienced Team are raising £500 to support our young people so we can celebrate their achievements with them and recognise their commitment to overcoming barriers but always aiming high.

For National Care Leavers Week October 28 - Sunday 3 November the team want to shine a light on a succession of achievements.

Staff and young people will be taking part in a relay on 3rd of October of walking from Torbay Town Hall to Paignton Velopark- Cycling for 1 hour and then Swimming 1 mile in order to raise as much funds as possible for the weeks activities.

You can sponsor the team and the Care Experienced young people taking part on their Just Giving page. 

Wellbeing Event for Care Experienced young people in Torbay

On Tuesday 29 October there will be a Wellbeing event for Care Leavers at the Torquay Town Hall Assembly Rooms (next to Torquay Library) from 11am to 2pm.

The event is open to all local Care Experienced young people and there will be representatives from a range of local organisations offering advice and support – more details will be confirmed closer to the event date. It will be a drop-in event so no need to book, but if you need any more information please contact Contact4Careleavers@torbay.gov.uk

You can also contact the Care Experienced team with your ideas, suggestions and any support you can offer at Contact4Careleavers@torbay.gov.uk