More children in care in Bath and North East Somerset will be able to maintain relationships with important people in their lives thanks to new government funding.

Bath & North East Somerset Council has secured funding from the Department for Education for its ‘Lifelong Links’ programme which ensures that children in care have a positive support network around them, including siblings, schoolfriends, former foster carers or teachers.

This funding will enable the council to further develop the service which was launched in 2021. The service currently works with 20 children and young people in care, or who are care experienced, and have had a number of successes in reconnecting children to significant people. 

There are currently 234 children in care in Bath and North East Somerset and 104 care leavers. Of these, there are 57 Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children aged under and over 18.

The council will use the funding to extend the Lifelong Links support to:

Lifelong Links, which was developed by the charity Family Rights Group, also enables councils to reduce social care costs by helping children and young people to gain support from their own networks.

Councillor Paul May, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “We are ambitious in striving for the best outcomes for children and young people in B&NES and work closely with Family Rights Group and other local authorities across the country to develop our practice.

“Building relationships with our families and communities is important for all of us in developing our sense of identity and creating a support network to last the rest of our lives. Through our Lifelong Links programme we help children in care reconnect with family members to share memories and spend time with people they feel they belong with. In many cases, foster carers and birth families can work together for the best outcomes for the children and this is something Lifelong Links supports.”

Jacob (15), who has taken part in family group conferences which are part of the Lifelong Links programme, said: “I was thinking about it, I wasn’t sure, then I thought – yeah ok! I’ll try it – just in case it was really good – and it was! Lifelong Links has made me happier. I see my family that I’ve not seen for years. Before I would often wonder about them, but now I know that they do want to see me and that they are ok.”

Cathy Ashley, chief executive of Family Rights Group, which worked with young people to develop Lifelong Links, says: “Lifelong Links is transforming lives for children in care. It is increasing the number of people they have to turn to, improving their mental health and sense of identity, and reducing the chance of becoming homeless. These and other impacts reduce councils’ social care costs, meaning that the programme more than pays for itself.”