I love going to the cinema it’s one of
my favorite things to do
I think it’s magical and pure escapism
there was a cinema a short distance from
this very church called the Clifton it
was the first one I ever went to
and I was 5 and it was to see Superman I
absolutely loved that film I still do I
watched it last night in fact I think
it’s as much the film itself as the
experience and the memories that are
evoked in my mind there’s something
about childhood memories that are really
special when they still make you feel
happy and safe a lifetime later the film
is about a young boy who finds himself
in a strange and foreign place he’s
taken in by the Kent’s a loving couple
who raised him as their own and they
named him Clark they know in their heart
though that one day he’s going to have
to leave them yet that doesn’t stop them
showering him with love what happens to
Clark is that he goes on his own journey
to find out who he is he discovers that
in fact the reason he’s had the life
he’s had is that he was separated from
his own parents and sent away from home
that doesn’t make it any easier to
accept but he does then go on to learn
and discover that his true calling in
life is something quite different and of
course he goes on to become Superman
when Clark realizes his true calling is
something unique and special it makes
him feel amazing but yet deep inside he
still struggles to really feel like he
belongs in the world where he’s been
seen as a savior he also struggles to
deal with his emotions but it was Clark
and as Superman
it’s quite a unique story looking back I
think that I loved Superman because he’s
everything that epitomizes a hero to me
he was strong principled loyal but also
vulnerable like Clark I’m also
fascinated with self-discovery which is
partly why I became a social worker I
found myself working in fostering an
adoption from an early age and I don’t
think is any coincidence because after
all Superman was a foster child I think
that my work with children who were
separated from their own parents living
far from home and also seeking to find
themselves mirrors the film so clearly
the film really did influence my life in
lots of ways
Clark was one child but I worked with
many others and I’ve done so for 22
years and some of the things I’ve heard
over the years a painful some are
magical and some are inspirational I’d
like to share just a few of those
stories with you
the first little boy I’d like to tell
you about is called Reese he’s five now
but from the age of two he was hunting
in bins for food because he was so
hungry all of the time he was found
wandering the streets some distance from
home and nothing but a dirty nappy I
think he needed a superhero
and then there’s Rachelle who at the age
of seven was practically a mother to her
siblings because of their own parents
were either too drunk or too high to do
the caring themselves she was ten before
she could really begin to be a child she
needed a superhero too and then there’s
Ashley who at the age of 12 got his
first job with his father great some
might say unfortunately it was carrying
drugs he was too scared of what would
happen to him if he said no
so he continued and did what he was
asked but he knew he had to get away and
he did eventually when he was arrested
he really needed a superhero – now I
know these aren’t your everyday
workplace experiences or stories but
sadly they’re pretty run-of-the-mill
where I work at the moment the
Children’s Commissioner for England
reports that there are 700,000 children
who were classed as vulnerable but
they’d remain living at home with their
families that’s the same as the
population of Leeds
England’s third largest city it’s also
12 times the population of lemons and
Sparta
if you can imagine that for a moment now
these are children who are living in
homes where there are serious problems
it’s not just little family nickels
these are children who are at daily risk
of harm or abuse I think that’s very
wrong I’m sure you do too but that’s how
things are that’s how their lives are
there are things we can do about it and
there are organisations out there who
are doing what they can but it’s a
difficult challenge to overcome and I
believe that we’ve really let these
children down by even allowing them to
remain in families where they do fall
into this risk category the sad reality
is though that their parents will
probably also similar to these children
when they were children themselves and
they were failed and so the cycle goes
on what we know is that children who
have experienced adversity in life are
much more likely to grow up to have
problems themselves so when I talk about
adversity I mean poor or absent
parenting exposure to harm abuse neglect
poverty a whole host of issues
these are children whose lives and their
bodies and their brains have been
affected by the experiences that they go
through research shows us that so we
know a lot more about what the impact of
vulnerability is on children now
and it’s devastating children like Reese
Rachelle and Ashley and even Clark Kent
are much more likely to grow up to have
poor mental health they’re much more
likely to end up in prison they’re more
likely to end up on the streets
or worse so the 70/30 campaign is aimed
to highlight these issues make us aware
of what the impact of childhood
adversity is but also to reduces its
prevalence at the moment they estimates
that the current level of need costs the
UK economy 15 billion pounds a year
that’s huge money personally I think our
taxes would be better spent preventing
those problems from escalating in the
first place some of the children who
were vulnerable are able to access help
through foster care that’s why I do for
a living so Reese Rachelle and Ashley
and their siblings were all children who
benefited from foster care they were
placed in families where they were safe
foster carers are also heroes in my eyes
they do amazing things they come in all
shapes and sizes from all backgrounds
bringing their own experiences to the
job but they’re united in one common
purpose they want to help vulnerable
children just like the Kent’s did with
Clark foster carers do what many of us
can’t they open their doors to the homes
and they let him children who they
barely know come and make life with them
they simply get on with the task of
dealing with what the children bring not
in their suitcases of course but in
their hearts and their minds
almost all foster carers without
exception and many adopters for that
matter over the years have said to me
that they didn’t ever think that they
could do what they do they didn’t think
they were the right sort of person they
didn’t then they could cope with the
problems yet here they are foster carers
also tell me that what keeps them going
are the achievements that they see in
the children that they’re caring for
without some positives it’s very hard to
do any kind of job so a child who gives
them a spontaneous hug can be amazing
especially when that same child had
previously been too scared to come near
them or a child who brings home a
reading award having always been behind
at school or a teenager arranging a
sleepover with their friends having
never had friends simple things for most
children but massive massive
achievements for the children I’m
talking about now it’s really really
difficult for foster carers to do this
on their own that’s where I think we
need to rethink how we support anybody
that’s helping vulnerable children and
when I say anybody I also mean the
parents where children remain at home if
there’s sixty five thousand children in
foster care which is what the current
numbers are that still means a six
hundred and thirty five thousand
children living at home at risk we need
to start thinking differently why don’t
we start paying things forward and
spreading kindness to children who are
vulnerable and I mean that as a group
not as individuals is something we need
to do as a society the concept of paying
it forward has been applied in all sorts
of ways but when we talk about children
what I’m really talking about is getting
to the core of their issues and helping
them with simple actions if you help a
vulnerable child they’ll be able to help
themselves eventually and perhaps after
that they’ll go on to help others that’s
paying it forward it’s creating a
momentum of kindness it was already I’m
sure
questions in your mind about why I’m
talking to you about this why is it my
problem what can I do about it and I’m
not here today to ask you to be foster
carers what I am here to say is that I
really believe each and every one of us
should do whatever we can there’s all
kinds of ways to get involved with
vulnerable children as a volunteer as a
family member as a friend
or as a neighbor these children
everywhere we just need to see them we
express our care and concern on social
media every second of every day I see it
on my tweet feed all the time yeah while
we’re on our phones we walk past the
person who looks like they need help the
most because we’re not sure what to do
or say or how to help them sometimes we
just need to ask the other issue that
often gets in the way is that we think
we’re too busy or we’re not the right
sort of person children don’t care about
who helps them they just need help there
are 168 hours in every week and I don’t
think it’s a huge ask to think about
giving one of those hours to help a
child in need just one and nobody ever
starts as the right person that’s who
you become there are already
organizations great organizations one of
them are actually called become who help
vulnerable children they do some great
work as two other organizations like the
NSPCC of course they need donations
their charity is but what they really
need is time and skill so whatever you
have to offer my view is put it forward
and help and you kind of think well I
need a motivation simply hearing about
vulnerable children on numbers isn’t
often enough but the great thing about
kindness and doing something from the
heart is that it does give back if you
think about the last time you helped
some of these spontaneously offered a
gesture of kindness spontaneously and
then think about how it made you feel
afterwards what I’m talking about could
make you feel like that much more of the
time it’s simply another way of offering
help and support and I’ll let you into a
little secret
one thing that I’ve heard repeatedly
from children particularly vulnerable
children is that just having one caring
adult in their life doesn’t matter who
it is makes a huge difference to them
it changes how they feel about
themselves it changes how they see their
future so there’s absolutely nothing
stopping us any one of us from getting
involved with a child and helping them
edit their life film and to change the
ending so it might sound inconceivable
but it’s possible because I see it
happening all the time not just in films
like Superman but when the children that
I work with other than care for if you
remember Reese who was found on the
streets he went on to be adopted by a
single man Reese still has his difficult
days some days are harder than others
but having a dad who believes in him and
is there for him has changed his whole
world he’s a different boy it’s amazing
the transformation in him and Rachelle
who was caring for her brother and
sister she’s now living with foster
parents of her own she no longer lives
with her brother and sister because it
was felt she needed her own space to be
able to thrive as an individual and it
worked
she’s now for the first time becoming
her own person and is a little girl
again and Ashleigh he was arrested he
went on to live with his grandparents
they were absolutely horrified with what
had been happening to him they were
living abroad at the time so weren’t
aware and what they have found is a very
scared little boy who’s no longer scared
because his father’s now in prison so he
knows he can’t be hurt he can’t cope
with school unfortunately because he’s
missed so much of it over the years but
they’re working really closely with him
to try and work out what he wants to do
what he might be good at and then it’s
all options to help him make a success
of his life
so when children are vulnerable I really
believe from my personal values and my
professional experience that they need
to become our shared responsibility it’s
not for one person to step forward or
just a small handful of us but for
everybody to come together and do
whatever they can to help these children
because they are the future what makes a
difference to children as I said earlier
are the actions and changing how they
feel and you can be that one person to
change how they feel about themselves
you can change how they feel because if
you reach inside yourself for your inner
superhero who is there trust me I’ve
seen it happen so many times I can’t
even begin to tell you your inner
superhero will help you to do things
that you honestly will today thinker
humanely impossible and what you do by
taking such an action is you help a
child to feel differently and the impact
of that as I said is immeasurable but
also you give of yourself you help that
child you help their life and by helping
their life you change the future not
just for that child but for you and for
all of us whatever action you may decide
to take after to say I’d really like to
hear about it if we share inspirational
stories they can only inspire others and
the message I’d like to leave you with
is that no act of kindness was ever
wasted thank you very much
you
my favorite things to do
I think it’s magical and pure escapism
there was a cinema a short distance from
this very church called the Clifton it
was the first one I ever went to
and I was 5 and it was to see Superman I
absolutely loved that film I still do I
watched it last night in fact I think
it’s as much the film itself as the
experience and the memories that are
evoked in my mind there’s something
about childhood memories that are really
special when they still make you feel
happy and safe a lifetime later the film
is about a young boy who finds himself
in a strange and foreign place he’s
taken in by the Kent’s a loving couple
who raised him as their own and they
named him Clark they know in their heart
though that one day he’s going to have
to leave them yet that doesn’t stop them
showering him with love what happens to
Clark is that he goes on his own journey
to find out who he is he discovers that
in fact the reason he’s had the life
he’s had is that he was separated from
his own parents and sent away from home
that doesn’t make it any easier to
accept but he does then go on to learn
and discover that his true calling in
life is something quite different and of
course he goes on to become Superman
when Clark realizes his true calling is
something unique and special it makes
him feel amazing but yet deep inside he
still struggles to really feel like he
belongs in the world where he’s been
seen as a savior he also struggles to
deal with his emotions but it was Clark
and as Superman
it’s quite a unique story looking back I
think that I loved Superman because he’s
everything that epitomizes a hero to me
he was strong principled loyal but also
vulnerable like Clark I’m also
fascinated with self-discovery which is
partly why I became a social worker I
found myself working in fostering an
adoption from an early age and I don’t
think is any coincidence because after
all Superman was a foster child I think
that my work with children who were
separated from their own parents living
far from home and also seeking to find
themselves mirrors the film so clearly
the film really did influence my life in
lots of ways
Clark was one child but I worked with
many others and I’ve done so for 22
years and some of the things I’ve heard
over the years a painful some are
magical and some are inspirational I’d
like to share just a few of those
stories with you
the first little boy I’d like to tell
you about is called Reese he’s five now
but from the age of two he was hunting
in bins for food because he was so
hungry all of the time he was found
wandering the streets some distance from
home and nothing but a dirty nappy I
think he needed a superhero
and then there’s Rachelle who at the age
of seven was practically a mother to her
siblings because of their own parents
were either too drunk or too high to do
the caring themselves she was ten before
she could really begin to be a child she
needed a superhero too and then there’s
Ashley who at the age of 12 got his
first job with his father great some
might say unfortunately it was carrying
drugs he was too scared of what would
happen to him if he said no
so he continued and did what he was
asked but he knew he had to get away and
he did eventually when he was arrested
he really needed a superhero – now I
know these aren’t your everyday
workplace experiences or stories but
sadly they’re pretty run-of-the-mill
where I work at the moment the
Children’s Commissioner for England
reports that there are 700,000 children
who were classed as vulnerable but
they’d remain living at home with their
families that’s the same as the
population of Leeds
England’s third largest city it’s also
12 times the population of lemons and
Sparta
if you can imagine that for a moment now
these are children who are living in
homes where there are serious problems
it’s not just little family nickels
these are children who are at daily risk
of harm or abuse I think that’s very
wrong I’m sure you do too but that’s how
things are that’s how their lives are
there are things we can do about it and
there are organisations out there who
are doing what they can but it’s a
difficult challenge to overcome and I
believe that we’ve really let these
children down by even allowing them to
remain in families where they do fall
into this risk category the sad reality
is though that their parents will
probably also similar to these children
when they were children themselves and
they were failed and so the cycle goes
on what we know is that children who
have experienced adversity in life are
much more likely to grow up to have
problems themselves so when I talk about
adversity I mean poor or absent
parenting exposure to harm abuse neglect
poverty a whole host of issues
these are children whose lives and their
bodies and their brains have been
affected by the experiences that they go
through research shows us that so we
know a lot more about what the impact of
vulnerability is on children now
and it’s devastating children like Reese
Rachelle and Ashley and even Clark Kent
are much more likely to grow up to have
poor mental health they’re much more
likely to end up in prison they’re more
likely to end up on the streets
or worse so the 70/30 campaign is aimed
to highlight these issues make us aware
of what the impact of childhood
adversity is but also to reduces its
prevalence at the moment they estimates
that the current level of need costs the
UK economy 15 billion pounds a year
that’s huge money personally I think our
taxes would be better spent preventing
those problems from escalating in the
first place some of the children who
were vulnerable are able to access help
through foster care that’s why I do for
a living so Reese Rachelle and Ashley
and their siblings were all children who
benefited from foster care they were
placed in families where they were safe
foster carers are also heroes in my eyes
they do amazing things they come in all
shapes and sizes from all backgrounds
bringing their own experiences to the
job but they’re united in one common
purpose they want to help vulnerable
children just like the Kent’s did with
Clark foster carers do what many of us
can’t they open their doors to the homes
and they let him children who they
barely know come and make life with them
they simply get on with the task of
dealing with what the children bring not
in their suitcases of course but in
their hearts and their minds
almost all foster carers without
exception and many adopters for that
matter over the years have said to me
that they didn’t ever think that they
could do what they do they didn’t think
they were the right sort of person they
didn’t then they could cope with the
problems yet here they are foster carers
also tell me that what keeps them going
are the achievements that they see in
the children that they’re caring for
without some positives it’s very hard to
do any kind of job so a child who gives
them a spontaneous hug can be amazing
especially when that same child had
previously been too scared to come near
them or a child who brings home a
reading award having always been behind
at school or a teenager arranging a
sleepover with their friends having
never had friends simple things for most
children but massive massive
achievements for the children I’m
talking about now it’s really really
difficult for foster carers to do this
on their own that’s where I think we
need to rethink how we support anybody
that’s helping vulnerable children and
when I say anybody I also mean the
parents where children remain at home if
there’s sixty five thousand children in
foster care which is what the current
numbers are that still means a six
hundred and thirty five thousand
children living at home at risk we need
to start thinking differently why don’t
we start paying things forward and
spreading kindness to children who are
vulnerable and I mean that as a group
not as individuals is something we need
to do as a society the concept of paying
it forward has been applied in all sorts
of ways but when we talk about children
what I’m really talking about is getting
to the core of their issues and helping
them with simple actions if you help a
vulnerable child they’ll be able to help
themselves eventually and perhaps after
that they’ll go on to help others that’s
paying it forward it’s creating a
momentum of kindness it was already I’m
sure
questions in your mind about why I’m
talking to you about this why is it my
problem what can I do about it and I’m
not here today to ask you to be foster
carers what I am here to say is that I
really believe each and every one of us
should do whatever we can there’s all
kinds of ways to get involved with
vulnerable children as a volunteer as a
family member as a friend
or as a neighbor these children
everywhere we just need to see them we
express our care and concern on social
media every second of every day I see it
on my tweet feed all the time yeah while
we’re on our phones we walk past the
person who looks like they need help the
most because we’re not sure what to do
or say or how to help them sometimes we
just need to ask the other issue that
often gets in the way is that we think
we’re too busy or we’re not the right
sort of person children don’t care about
who helps them they just need help there
are 168 hours in every week and I don’t
think it’s a huge ask to think about
giving one of those hours to help a
child in need just one and nobody ever
starts as the right person that’s who
you become there are already
organizations great organizations one of
them are actually called become who help
vulnerable children they do some great
work as two other organizations like the
NSPCC of course they need donations
their charity is but what they really
need is time and skill so whatever you
have to offer my view is put it forward
and help and you kind of think well I
need a motivation simply hearing about
vulnerable children on numbers isn’t
often enough but the great thing about
kindness and doing something from the
heart is that it does give back if you
think about the last time you helped
some of these spontaneously offered a
gesture of kindness spontaneously and
then think about how it made you feel
afterwards what I’m talking about could
make you feel like that much more of the
time it’s simply another way of offering
help and support and I’ll let you into a
little secret
one thing that I’ve heard repeatedly
from children particularly vulnerable
children is that just having one caring
adult in their life doesn’t matter who
it is makes a huge difference to them
it changes how they feel about
themselves it changes how they see their
future so there’s absolutely nothing
stopping us any one of us from getting
involved with a child and helping them
edit their life film and to change the
ending so it might sound inconceivable
but it’s possible because I see it
happening all the time not just in films
like Superman but when the children that
I work with other than care for if you
remember Reese who was found on the
streets he went on to be adopted by a
single man Reese still has his difficult
days some days are harder than others
but having a dad who believes in him and
is there for him has changed his whole
world he’s a different boy it’s amazing
the transformation in him and Rachelle
who was caring for her brother and
sister she’s now living with foster
parents of her own she no longer lives
with her brother and sister because it
was felt she needed her own space to be
able to thrive as an individual and it
worked
she’s now for the first time becoming
her own person and is a little girl
again and Ashleigh he was arrested he
went on to live with his grandparents
they were absolutely horrified with what
had been happening to him they were
living abroad at the time so weren’t
aware and what they have found is a very
scared little boy who’s no longer scared
because his father’s now in prison so he
knows he can’t be hurt he can’t cope
with school unfortunately because he’s
missed so much of it over the years but
they’re working really closely with him
to try and work out what he wants to do
what he might be good at and then it’s
all options to help him make a success
of his life
so when children are vulnerable I really
believe from my personal values and my
professional experience that they need
to become our shared responsibility it’s
not for one person to step forward or
just a small handful of us but for
everybody to come together and do
whatever they can to help these children
because they are the future what makes a
difference to children as I said earlier
are the actions and changing how they
feel and you can be that one person to
change how they feel about themselves
you can change how they feel because if
you reach inside yourself for your inner
superhero who is there trust me I’ve
seen it happen so many times I can’t
even begin to tell you your inner
superhero will help you to do things
that you honestly will today thinker
humanely impossible and what you do by
taking such an action is you help a
child to feel differently and the impact
of that as I said is immeasurable but
also you give of yourself you help that
child you help their life and by helping
their life you change the future not
just for that child but for you and for
all of us whatever action you may decide
to take after to say I’d really like to
hear about it if we share inspirational
stories they can only inspire others and
the message I’d like to leave you with
is that no act of kindness was ever
wasted thank you very much
you
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