Eight CiCC members made history at

The High Sheriff of Kent’s Justice

Service at Rochester Cathedral on 11

October!

This was held on the 800th

Anniversary of the signing of the

Magna Carta in 1215.

It was a great honour for the CiCC to

be part of the service and Shannon

said, “It was a real privilege to be

part of the service and I felt

honoured to carry the Texus

Roffensis.”

The CiCC held the Book of Gospels,

Facsimile of the Texus Roffensis and

Facsimile of the Magna Carta….and

they didn’t drop any of them! Which

was just as well, as they are worth

millions of pounds!

The eight members were thanked by

The High Sheriff of Kent with their

very own facsimile of the Magna

Carta. Well done all!

Every year for the last three years

Medway’s CiCC and Medway’s

professionals have come together

to compete against each other in

our annual football match.

This is to build and maintain

relationships with our working

professionals! But this year they had

two games on their hands!! Could

they handle it?

Find out the score and read more

here:

http://ylf.org.uk/bigdifference/

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

SO FAR!

CiCC Performance Report!

Have you read the amazing

achievements your CiCC have

made over the last 6 months?

www.ylf.org.uk/bigdifference

BBC Radio 1!

The CiCC apprentice tells his story

about coming into care!

www,ylf.org.uk/news/bbc-airtime/

Also…

CiCC reps worked with the Medway

Fostering Team in the production of a

film for children going into foster

care. This was launched in 2015!

The CiCC were part of a working

party to produce Medway Council’s

new complaints leaflet for young

people! Have you seen it?

YOUR VOICE COULD MAKE A

NEWSLETTER FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN CARE IN MEDWAY

Want to find out more or get involved???

Phone | 01622 693459

Email | bigdifference@ylf.org.uk

Web | www.ylf.org.uk/bigdifference

Follow Paddy | @paddypowell1 facebook.com/paddycicc

Medway’s CiCC Newsletter

Exclusively 4 you!

The Children in Care Council

have been busy!

Over the last few months, I can

certainly say that the CiCC have

achieved so much and we aim to

keep up the success.

We have attended the Corporate

Parenting Group where some

members of the CiCC gave an

update on what they have been up

to and the CiCC have also been

involved with the Justice Service -

read more on the back page!

CiCC have been part of Medway’s

Ofsted Inspection, speaking on

behalf of all children in care about

their experiences of being looked

after. Ofsted recently reported that

the CiCC are ‘dynamic and

determined’ – a result we should

be proud of. Read our latest news

for more:

www.ylf.org.uk/news/dynamic-

determined/

I was really pleased to find how

many more young people we are

reaching when I recently put

together the CiCC Performance

Time 2 Shine 2016 is back!

Not just your ordinary awards

ceremony but one customised by

young people for young people!

After the great success of Time 2

Shine back in 2013, young people are

working alongside Medway Council to

organise this event.

Time 2 Shine is time where young

people will get awarded for all the

great work they do. A time to

celebrate the outstanding

achievements made by looked after

children and care leavers in Medway!

On the night: Don’t miss CiCC’s

presentation about India!

How to get involved: Young people

will be nominated by professional’s

friends and other people. You can

nominate people too! Find out how:

www.medwaycan.co.uk/surveys/time

-2-shine-nomination-form-2015/

You can also be involved by showing

us your talents, such as singing,

dancing, magic, group performances...

If you want to be one of our

performers for the evening then

please get in touch with Emily:

researchandinfo@medway.gov.uk

Your Newsletter… Report. You can read this by visiting

the Big Difference pages.

I am also really happy to inform you

that I will continue to be the CiCC

Apprentice for another year at YLF, so

I am still on hand for you to send me

any info, thoughts and ideas to help

the CiCC and looked after children in

Medway. I will keep you all up-to-date

with our achievements on my blog

and social networks so don’t forget to

visit these sites:

www.ylf.org.uk/big-difference-blog

www.twitter.com/paddypowell1

www.facebook.com/paddycicc

www.ylf.org.uk/bigdifference

Do you want to be involved with the

CiCC, become a member and

represent the voices of looked after

children in Medway? Why not get in

contact with me.

Email: bigdifference@ylf.org.uk

Or call: 01622 693459

The next formal CiCC meeting is 9

December 2015. I look forward to

seeing many of you there or updating

you after the meeting about our

achievements.

Winter 2015

The CiCC recommended that

Medway children in care should

receive quarterly Who Cares Trust

magazines.

Tell us what you think about the

magazine by taking our survey at:

www.ylf.org.uk/bigdifference

Nine young people and three YLF staff flew to Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

to volunteer, by teaching English in a primary school and supporting boys

in the local orphanage for two weeks. Whilst doing this the group were

working towards an ASDAN qualification.

The ‘Inside India’ group designed their own school lesson plans, taught

children in primary school, learnt Hindi and experienced a whole new

culture. Read some stories here and to read more go to our Blog at

www.ylf.org.uk/blog

David’s Story…

There are many things that can be

said yet so little time.

India is a beautiful country with

its luscious greenery, beautiful

buildings and exciting marketplaces

but India changed

Paddy’s Story…

Where do I start?

When I was in India I learnt so

much, not just about the country

itself but how the communities

live, how they bring income in, how

they pay for their bills; their day to

day life. This really made me think

about how lucky we are to have

a nice roof over our heads and how

much we don’t appreciate!!

I also learnt a lot about myself and

who I am.

When we were there, we

volunteered in the local school.

We had to lesson plan every day for

two hours. We taught numbers,

colours, and the alphabet.

Tiffany’s Story…

India was a very eye opening

experience for me. The things we

did and the things we saw were so

unreal, especially how happy the

children in the school and boys’

orphanage were. Even the children

in the villages were so happy and

excited to interact with us.

On our excursions we saw some

amazing sights; such as the

sunset through the mountains at

the Monsoon Palace and the view

of the blue city from the King and

Queen’s Palace.

The trip made me appreciate

what I have and to be happy with

my life.

India 2015….. They gave us an experience, a life

lesson, a new family and made me

very humble to be in their presence.

The orphanage has 25 boys per

room and the school children had

houses made of cow excretion and

sand but still they had smiles on

their faces every single day

which is a sight I will never forget!

India is a part of my life that I will

never forget and I find it hard to

share my experience with people

back home because I could talk for

hours but they still wouldn’t feel

what I felt.

It is definitely an amazing

experience I will never forget. I

would recommend everyone to

volunteer as it certainly changes

your life!

We also went to the local

orphanage every day after we

did our lesson planning. We spent

two hours at the orphanage to have

some fun time. Play football,

cricket, boxing… and we did a lot

of dancing!!

We saw the most beautiful

views I will never forget

especially the Queen’s Palace that

led into the King’s Palace and the

sights looking over the towns.

There is one thing I will never forget

and that’s how happy the people

are. They have nothing but they

gave me everything. The

warmth and the welcome into a

place I’ll probably never get to see

again.

India also made me a better person

and made me more confident

and comfortable around

different people.

I honestly think that the Inside India

trip was a really good experience

and I would definitely love to see

other people experience what we

did!

Sean’s Story…

The first thing that I have to say

about India is “What an

experience!”

I will certainly never forget this

once in a lifetime opportunity.

I had never taught children before

so I knew that this wasn’t going to

be easy for me. I started off feeling

really nervous because I didn’t

know what to expect. When I first

arrived in India, it was definitely

not what I expected.

After taking in all of the sights of

India and the culture, it was time

to settle down at the apartment.

It was then time to start planning

the lessons to teach to the children.

After we arrived at the school, we

were assigned our classes. I got

grade 2, which meant that I had to

teach 7-8 year olds. Even

though I was nervous at the

beginning, I felt calmer once I had

met my class and knew who I

would be teaching.

The first lesson was great and it

just got better and better after

that. Not only were we teaching in

a school but in the afternoon we

also went to a destitute boys’

home, where we played sports

such as cricket and football. I met

some great people whilst I was

there and I will never forget them.

We also got to see the sights of

India by visiting many temples,

City Palace and even went to the

desert and went camel riding. I

would absolutely love to do this

again if I am lucky enough because

it was brilliant.

Anyone thinking of volunteering for

children, I would definitely say go

for it. It is something that you will

never regret!

my perception on a lot of things.

Seeing the way the children live,

essentially in squalor and barely

without a possession to their

names, they still have to be the

happiest people I have ever met

in my life. For people that have so

little, they offered us so much.