Life during lockdown for young people in Doncaster

Featured article - 12 May 2020
By Kanisha and Jordan, Young Advisors at Doncaster Children’s Services Trust

Kanisha and Jordan, Young Advisors at Doncaster Children’s Services Trust

Hiya. As young people with care experience, we help other young people living in care to have their voices heard. We wanted to share with you our experiences of life in lockdown and how we are providing support for young people across Doncaster.

The thought of lockdown and not going into work didn’t sound that bad at first. We thought it sounded easy - what’s so bad with being at home all day. Reality hit within a matter of days when we realised it wasn’t as easy as it first sounded. We would typically be in the office five days a week, and when not at work, we would be spending time with friends and family.

As young people, we spend a lot of our time on social media and chatting with friends on face time. However, this being the only way we could talk to our mates soon became tough. We soon started to feel like our worlds had got smaller.

Several weeks into lockdown, we are sort of getting used to it. It still feels odd at times, but we’ve managed to find ways to keep ourselves busy.

Staying in touch

Embracing the changes, since the lockdown began, we have all been making it a priority to stay in touch with our young people. We’ve been ringing all the Children in Care Council members to make sure they are ok and to see what they have been up to. It is great to chat with them, and it gives them the opportunity to raise any issues/concerns they may have. Now, this isn’t the same as us all meeting together for some pizza but it is working, and the chats we are having are helping us to build relationships.

We’ve embraced Microsoft Teams; it has made it easier to keep in touch with colleagues and see into their homes! It is a strange and challenging time for everyone at the moment, not just our young people but our colleagues too; and this shared experience is helping us to feel more connected.

Stronger relationships

All the Young Advisors have been staying in touch with each other through regular phone chats. We have built stronger relationships with one another due to this. We all like to make sure we are all doing ok and to hear what each other have been up to.

Together we have been in the process of creating our Young Advisors ‘Hear Me’ digital newsletter for all our young people. This month’s edition includes coping strategies for anxieties around Covid-19, useful materials, activities, competitions, and many stories on the great things we have been involved with over the past few months. This is just a little token we can give back to remind our young people we are here for them. It has been a strange time for us all.

Well, that brings us to the end of our update. Take care of yourselves, and we hope you are staying safe! Kanisha and Jordan.