Wokingham

Wokingham District Council as corporate parents recently organised a fun day for its looked-after children and care leavers and it proved to be a huge hit with the youngsters!

The fun day was also an opportunity for the Wokingham children’s rights service to carry out consultation, via a questionnaire, with young people to find out what they think about council services and whether they are getting the services that they really need.

And, as Wokingham council is also keen to help looked-after children and care leavers celebrate their achievements on a regular basis, the questionnaire asked them how they would like to celebrate! Their achievements cover a wide range of things, including doing well at school, achievements in sport or drama, overcoming fears and successfully moving to independence, to name just a few.

Over 60 people visited the Wokingham fun day including 17 looked-after children, four care leavers and two looked after-children who live in the district but are the responsibility of other local authorities. They all completed a questionnaire. They also had the chance to enjoy a bouncy castle, learn circus tricks and take part in an art workshop.

Competition was in the air when the youngsters enjoyed five-a-side football, before playing each other at garden Jenga, chess and Connect Four! There was a free tombola and a ‘guess the weight’ of the cake competition, kindly donated by Waitrose. And if that wasn’t enough to keep the visitors entertained there was a ‘guess the name of the elephant’ and ‘guess the number of sweets in a jar’ competition!

Attending the fun day was Wokingham Cllr Annette Drake, vice-chairman of Wokingham District Council and chairman of the corporate parenting panel, and she said: “As a corporate parent, the council has a responsibility for looked-after children and this day allowed us to show to our looked-after children, and those who are about to leave care, that they are thought about and cared for.

“Opportunities for looked-after children to enjoy themselves are very welcome and of great importance. I would like to say thank you to everyone who has made this event possible and such a resounding success!”

The council will now be sending a questionnaire to all of the district’s looked-after children to gain their views.

Wokingham Cllr Drake added: “It's very important that the council recognises their achievements and we are keen to hear how they would like us to do this. We value all our looked after children and want to celebrate their achievements."

Wokingham District Council