Are you aged between 8 – 21 and in care? Do you want to make a difference? If you want to get involved - contact the Children in Care Council!

The Children in Care Council (CICC) is a group of children and young people who are or have been in the care of Central Bedfordshire Council. The members of the CiCC work with the Corporate Parenting Panel to improve services for Central Bedfordshire Council’s looked after children.

The CiCC meet monthly and work towards a number of priorities which have been agreed between the members of the CiCC and members of Corporate Parenting Panel.

The CiCC organises the Annual Achievement Awards and the school holidays activity programmes. The members of the CiCC are also involved in interviewing social workers, presenting information to senior managers, and consultations on different aspects of being in care.

“ I enjoy being part of the CiCC as I enjoy meeting new people and I get the opportunity to try and be involved in different tasks, like interviews and presentations. We always ensure that are our views and other young peoples views are heard. I have become more confident and built up good team working skills; I am passionate about making the lives of other young people in care better and want to make sure they are being listened to. We have the support of workers and other young people and so nothing that we do is too difficult once we set our mind to it! ” CiCC member

If you would like to take part in The CiCC meetings or activities which are arranged throughout the year please contact Marie Short on 0300 300 4881. Full dates and details will be posted here as soon as they are confirmed.

Without the support of a small group of foster carers in Bedfordshire the Association cannot support you properly.  Working directly, with two Local Authorities is likely to increase some of the work that we do to support our carer members. In some cases that you may not be aware of is that we have either been under represented or not represented at all, at some of the important, but ‘behind the scenes’ meetings including Central Bedfordshire’s Corporate Parenting Panel. The committee is concerned that without more members we will not be able to cover everything that we want to do and also that the views of what is only a handful of Bedfordshire foster carers will not be representative of everyone who carers for Bedfordshire children.

With this in mind we are seeking volunteers to become involved in some of the work that we do. Our volunteers do not need to become involved in everything, but anything that you can do would be much appreciated. Please contact us for more information.