ABOUT ME

My name is Declan Andrews - I had social work involvement from a young age and this resulted in being eventually accommodated by my local authority within different foster placements and then residential. I have experience of being the looked after child and also the staff member working with the child within the care setting. 

Combined I have almost 20 years experience of residential care through being the young person or in a professional capacity. 

I was on a road of prison/death and did not care about my future or the consequences of my actions - I required consistent people in my life to help me make the changes - no one could do this for me, I had to learn and progress at my own pace. 

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MY WHY

I believe that all young people deserve the chance of a future - because you are care experienced should not determine your path in life. Too many care experienced young people sadly never get to create a future for themselves due to a range of factors - the majority of the homeless and prison population in Scotland are care experienced - where does this end?

My mission and aim is to provide as much true life reflection through talks and mentoring to as many professionals, young people and adults as possible to raise awareness on how it actually feels to be looked after, the barriers we looked after children face, the support we require but are not the best at communicating at certain times in order to receive this, the reasons behind some of our behaviours and lack of empathy for ourselves and others. 

I hope that in doing so I empower the current care experienced young people - I also hope I can provide light bulb moments for professionals and adults working with and caring for these young people. 

Before I came to work in residential I had my very own light bulb moment when one of my close friends that I had lived in care with lost his life in prison - this is when I felt the urge to make a change and led to me applying for my first job as a residential practitioner. 

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