The Theme for our Workshop Style Conference is “NOW Do You SEE Us?”

We know that research states, all Children and Young People who enter the Care System must overcome challenges in order to achieve their potential.

We also know that research states that Black Children and Young People who enter the Care System, experience another layer of challenges that see them disconnected from their Culture, Identity and Heritage, which results in them not having a positive sense of who they are; they are not prepared for the wider world of Racism and Discrimination and experience this in the Care System; and their Aspirations are not affirmed and championed.

Now if these challenges are not overcome, our Black Children and Young People in Care will go on to have the poorest outcomes and life chances in comparison to any other ethnic group within Children’s Social Care.

With that in mind, in this Years’ Conference we’ll explore:

• How Racism and Discrimination directly impacts of the lives of our Black Children and Young People in Care, and
• How with the right support in place, our Black Children and Young People in Care are able to achieve and succeed

At the Conference you’ll hear from:

Millie Kerr | Strategic Anti-Racist Lead | Business Improvement for Children’s Services | Brighton & Hove City Council

Millie qualified as a social worker, in oxford in 1994 and has been practicing as a social work professional for 3 decades.

Moving into management in 2003, working as Team manager and children’s services manager, within Local authority children’s services, health and adult social care and within the Charity sector. Her career thus far has Spanned a range of disciplines from safeguarding and child protection, HIV, palliative care, child asylum, child Trafficking, leaving care and specialist FGM and safeguarding services.

Millie has been working within the area of anti-racist practice and racial equity since November 2020, in Brighton & Hove City Council, and is now the Strategic anti-racist lead -Business improvement for children’s services within the Local authority. Millie is experienced in people management, mentoring, organisation project development, leadership and change management, as well as strategic planning.

Millie is also a practice educator in addition to delivering training and keynote presentations on anti-racist practice, racial equity and intersectionality, within social work, the charity sector, at national conferences and more widely. Developing Anti-Racist practice within organisations and leading strategic change, are key areas of particular interest within her present role and personal career objectives, to secure social justice, equity, and inclusion for black and global majority young people, communities and all.

Sheree Von‑Claire | Senior Practitioner | Five Rivers Child Care

I’m a Christian woman in my late 50’s with two bi-racial adult children and a 7-year-old granddaughter.

Exposure to racism’s many guises has come both personally, as a British second-generation Jamaican, and vicariously through my children; for whom 50% of their DNA often appears discounted by tendencies to pigeonhole them based on their visible difference.

I taught years of GCSE Maths in an unqualified capacity at a challenging senior school; where many children were socially inept and had emotional and behavioural difficulties. This inspired my entrance into Anglia Ruskin university at 40, as a (then) divorcing single parent to a teen son and pre-teen daughter.

Through university, I worked as a Contact Supervisor, acquiring knowledge of the children and families’ field. I gained a BA (Hons) in 2011 and have been a Supervising Social Worker since 2012. In 2015, I completed a post-graduation qualification in Therapeutic Fostering, which I utilize to help create therapeutic and trauma informed placement settings. I’m particularly drawn towards supporting Carers looking after children of colour, especially when they’ve been placed cross-culturally.

I wrote my dissertation on “Cultural Competency in Social Work: The Presence of its Absence”. I believe this area continues to require growth and promotion across social care and education to foster greater opportunities for looked-after children to age out of care with positivity.

Olivia Doherty | National Participation and Engagement Officer | Five Rivers Child Care

I am the National Children and Young People’s Participation and Engagement Lead for the social enterprise Five Rivers Child Care.

I have worked with young people who are care experienced for over 25 years. I am passionate about elevating their voices, particularly those that are most marginalised. I am determined to provide equitable access to spaces and platforms where young people can feel safe to have their say.

I work creatively with young people, through expressive writing, animation, poetry, film, drama and other creative arts to help facilitate examination and expression of their experiences; creating high quality professional resources and pieces of work. Our team of clinical psychologists often work alongside myself and the young people to make these resources, and to help ensure that the young people’s views and experiences are taken seriously, inform service delivery and influence organisational change.

Antonia Ogundayisi | Service Manager for Anti Racist Practice | Essex County Council

Antonia is a passionate social care leader with a specialism in Youth Justice and Anti-Racist Practice. She is committed to empowering black communities, and supporting children, families and people to reach their full potential. She has developed and is currently embedding an anti-racist practice strategy in Essex County Council Social Care to address the overrepresentation of Black and Dual-Heritage children in care.

Shimron Walters

Shimron is a care experienced project manager, aspiring entrepreneur and volunteer for care focused initiatives. He has worked with the Drive Forward Foundation for over 5 years with a focus on addressing the criminalisation of children in care, helping to deliver both the London wide protocol for reducing criminalisation of looked after children and care leavers, and the 2023 #DaretoCare guidance for barristers and legal professionals.

Sekia Blye

My name is Sekia, and I am an advocate for care-experienced individuals, alongside supporting families with children aged 5-12 through extracurricular led activities. The current work that I do with both young children and care-experienced individuals coupled with my degree in Health Studies, provides me extensive experience working with children, young people and adults. I am passionate about creating meaningful opportunities and supporting the next generation of care-experienced individuals.

Vanessa Peat

Vanessa is a Performance Nutritionist, Registered Associate Nutritionist, Personal Trainer, Neurodiversity and Looked after children advocate. She has a lived experience in overcoming disordered eating. She graduated with a Bachelor of Medical Science (2013) from the University of Leicester, a 1st Class Honours Bachelor of Nutrition with Medical Science (2020) from UCL, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Nutrition (2022) with Distinction from the IOPN. In July 2024, she was awarded a Certificate of Recognition as a Healthcare Support Professional of the Year.

Baroness Lola Young

Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey became one of the first Black Women members of the House of Lords in 2004. Raised in foster care in north London, she studied at the New College of Speech and Drama, then worked as an actress, before becoming Professor of Cultural Studies at Middlesex University. After receiving an OBE in 2001, she was Head of Culture at the Greater London Authority. In 2004, lola was appointed as an independent Crossbench member of the House of Lords. In 2017 she chaired the Man Booker Prize judging panel. An active campaigner against modern slavery and unsustainable business practices, especially in fashion, her work in this sphere is know nationally and internationally. Lola is currently Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, and her memoir, ‘8 Weeks: Looking Back, Moving Forwards, Defying the Odds’ was published in November 2024.

About The Black Care Experience

The Black Care Experience was formed in 2020 to campaign and provide solutions on how to improve the care, outcomes and life chances of Black Children and Young People in Children’s Social Care and keep them connected to their Culture, Identity and Heritage as they journey through the Care System.

The aim of our Workshop Style Conference is to bring the Black Care Experienced and those who work in the Children’s Social Care Sector together, to build on our mission of learning how to create a better care experience for the current and next black and in care generation.

Being Black, we define as a Child and Young Person whose Ethnic Origin is either African, Caribbean including Mixed Race with African or Caribbean Heritage.

The Care Experience we define as being in Foster Care or in a Residential Children’s Home.

More information about The Black Care Experience can be found here.

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