Article 39 will be a core participant. We will be sharing day by day updates of the hearing on the link below.

Let’s not let them get away with the heinous things they did (including, but not limited to,
deleting/diluting 65

Other professional bodies, such as RCPsych, lead on this with compassion, understanding & good sense.

It’s time to acknowledge that some learning can’t be quantified. I’ll bet my bottom dollar not many social workers and or women were part of drafting this.

Time for a rehaul.

Tending to the needs of an infant who is dependent on you for survival is an indescribable learning curve.

It is a deep-dive into attachment theory, early years development, lived experience of maternity care and more. All of which are immediately transferrable to practice.

I am glad I didn’t access them when I first left care - I doubt I’d have coped.

Here are some of the things that would have helped me through the process, and something local authorities could consider for others. Link to full article in community care here: www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/08/08/c...

There was no recognition that this wasn’t just any SAR, but one in which I appealed for fragments of my childhood. No support offered to help make sense of records which were written in haste, seemingly with no thought that one day I could grow up to read them.

So here’s an extract from Free Loaves on Fridays, by Sam Upton, which boldly tells those who need educating who we are.

Get your copy - and share it with your local ignoramus - here (proceeds to Article 39 and Together Trust):

lnkd.in/eK4m9udA

his role on the Cambridgeshire council’s “children’s scrutiny committee” - a position I trust the council will be revoking immediately.

You can read more about the challenges (and joys) faced by care-experienced parents here, in Free Loaves on Fridays. Written by 100 children & adults with lived experience. Proceeds to Article 39 & The Together Trust: lnkd.in/eK4m9udA /9

What’s more, the ever-challenging act of balancing work and parenthood shouldn’t be airbrushed, but normalised. Grateful to NAIRO for supporting inclusivity through actions, not just words. Hope to model the same values to my son one day! /8

And anyway, as care-experienced parents, we do not always have access to the childcare or resources that our peers do. In bringing alongside my small sidekick, this was a testament to that lived reality. /7

Children don’t wait for a convenient window in which to disclose their truths. Nor do they choose a location which fits nicely into an adult schedule. The duty is on us to accommodate them, not the other way round. /6

Fortunately the organisers at NAIRO were incredibly supportive, and were keen to live their values of child centredness and inclusivity. The fact is, real social work is often loud, messy, and unpredictable. /5

So I took a risk. I decided to call the organisers a week in advance and present my dilemma; present online and risk blunting my message (and missing out on a rare opportunity to meet others in the field in person), or present IRL and risk the baby wailing in real time. No mute button available! /4

Why go to the effort to promote language that cares (both written and verbal) whilst implying that my own child was somehow a burden? /3

But given the theme was amplifying children’s voices in social care, it felt hypocritical to banish my own child from the building. How could I possibly speak about dismantling adult-centric systems, whilst bowing down to the old “children should be seen and not heard” approach? /2