I have had the privilege, over recent weeks, to be invited to attend two regional conferences as a delegate - both of which have been led and facilitated by care experienced young people from across the North East region. The events were moving and inspirational and, as always, have got me thinking….

Luke Rodgers, CEO of the organisation Care Leaders, was a keynote speaker offering constructive challenge to elected members, chief executives, and senior leaders across local government and health systems about what it means to be a ‘Corporate Parent’ and in fact what an oxymoron the phrase is.  His phrase “More Parenting and less of the Corporate” struck a real chord.

One particularly impactful workshop which highlighted the lived experiences of our young people, required us to hand over our mobile phones and then work out how we would manage our daily lives without access to WiFi and the internet – imagining that we couldn’t contact our friends and families when we wanted to or were worried; not being able to find the answer to any question we may have needed to ask ourselves through a quick search on the intranet… Needless to say, we were all struggling to imagine living without what have become basic essentials to so many of us, and yet none of us could be certain that all of our young people had this same access.

In another session, young people organised a quiz using pictures of apparently everyday objects around the house and asked delegates whether they knew what they were and how to use them – again a very powerful reminder that if young people haven’t had the opportunity to learn how to use a radiator key to bleed their radiators or change the fuse on a plug then our collective parenting task has fallen short and we need to do better.

Our young people sought ‘pledges’ through the form of a ‘Pinky Promise’ from chief execs and senior leaders in response to their issues and priorities. Promises included a continued campaign for free transport for all children in care across the North East region, working with more local employers to increase opportunities for young people’s access to work experience opportunities and apprenticeships, as well as striving to continually improve the Local Offer across the region, with a renewed focus on supporting life skills and addressing digital poverty and digital inclusion. 

This, of course, is where the power of the ‘Corporate’ element of corporate parenting comes into its own – the power of our large organisations and our partners to open doors and create opportunities that make a difference for our young people. We definitely need to be focused on both elements of ‘Corporate’ and ‘Parenting’ but we must never lose sight of the lived reality of our young people; what it means to be a loving and caring parent in our roles as leaders of our organisations, and always challenging ourselves to get the balance right.