Day 20 - let’s keep children in care close to the people and places they love.

It’s Day 20 and thousands of children in care have #GoneTooFar away from the people and places that matter to them.

For Day 20, we want you to know that you can make a difference for children in care by encouraging your MP to support our #GoneTooFar campaign.

All children need and deserve the same things to thrive: a loving home, a stable support network, and access to the community that helps them feel like they belong. But children in care rarely get this when they are moved far away from the people and places that matter to them.

Over 17,000 children are moved 20+ miles away each year, often without warning – with some children moved more than 500 miles and the number of children experiencing these far away moves is rising year on year.

We know this is having a harmful impact on children’s lives and their futures. Being moved far away can disrupt a child’s education, their relationships – including with brothers and sisters who might live tens of miles away, and impact their mental health. Young people we work with have told us it makes them feel lonely, isolated, and even more stigmatised, and that they have little or no choice in where they live.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We are campaigning with an amazing group of care-experienced young people to change this, who have highlighted how things can be different and what this will mean for children in care.

“When young people are suddenly thrown into an area they don’t know and have to start a new life away from their family and friends and even people that look like them, it is extremely difficult.” – Jade 

We want to see all children in care living in safe and stable homes that meet their needs. Together, we can help make this a reality.

You can help by messaging your MP and asking them to support the #GoneTooFar campaign. Ask them to raise this with our government and check what action is happening in their own constituency to prevent children being moved far away when it’s not in their best interests.