Spring Writing Retreat 2014

This three day writing retreat is aimed at writers who want time to work on their writing, there will be no workshops or directed writing. 28th-30th March, 2014 at St Katharine's, Parmoor near Henley on Thames. Full board £160 from Friday teatime-Sunday teatime. Accommodation is in single rooms in the St Joseph's Annexe. St Katharine's This historic house stands in 12 acres of grounds in an area of great scenic beauty and abundant wildlife. The rural tranquility of the Chilterns, combined with a peaceful and relaxed atmosphere, make St. Katharine's an ideal destination for a writing retreat.  Visitors are free to stroll around the grounds, or find a quiet corner to write and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. There are a number of interesting features, including a walled garden, a pond, a formal garden which is in process of being renovated and a former sunken garden, which awaits restoration. You can also visit the chickens, who provide the delicious free-range eggs which are used in the House kitchen, and are also on sale to visitors. If you would like to book your place, contact Rosie Canning: greenacrewriters@gmail.com

Edward Timpson Does Care

I can’t remember how I first heard about the government press release, ‘Children to stay with foster families until 21’, but, I do remember I felt bewildered by a press release that began ‘All children in care…’ but by the end of the first sentence had excluded over 6,000 children in residential care.

What is going on?

This was the new support that would be available to children living not in residential homes but in foster homes until they were 21 years of age. At the moment when a child in care reaches their sixteenth birthday, they begin the journey to leaving care – some do leave when they are only 16.

Almost immediately discussions ensued between Ben Ashcroft, Ian Dickson, Lisa Cherry, Ed Dixon, Louise Holt and myself and we decided to start this campaign: Every Child Leaving Care Matters.

We believe this statement 100% - EVERY Child Leaving Care Matters.

I’m sure Edward Timpson believes this too. His own family fostered nearly 90 children, and I imagine his parents will have supported many of the children they fostered. However, there is a reason he has campaigned for children in foster care to have support until they are 21. He has had first hand experience of seeing so many young children moved on, or asked to leave his family home and I can only imagine that he concluded that in some instances, this was wrong. I can only imagine that maybe there were some of those children whom he grew fond of and whom he wanted to support. In the government press release, Timpson said:

‘I know from the many foster children I grew up with how crucial it is for them to be given sufficient time to prepare for life after care.’

So, again, I can only imagine, that Edward Timpson, does care and is aware that children in residential care are even more vulnerable than those in foster care and also need that time and support to 21.

‘Young people leaving care are among the most vulnerable children in our society. Even those who have had a stable placement may have very high levels of need. Many children who have been in the care system have had a childhood full of instability and trauma, with over 62 per cent of looked after children being taken into care due to abuse or neglect.’

(Barnardos - Still Our Children. Case for reforming the leaving care system in England)

The government press release goes on to say: ‘Children in care typically have much lower educational outcomes and are more likely to be out of education, work and training.’ And as our previous blog showed, there are also all the awful statistics that show some care leavers end up homeless, in prison, with mental health problems, pregnant just after leaving care and worse still are four or five times more likely to commit suicide in adulthood. For me, this last statistic is the most worrying one of them all. Because once a young care leaver is dead, there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to help that poor person ever again.

We have had a few worrying comments along these lines via the petition. Just recently, after Scotland announced that from 2015 they will be supporting ALL care leavers until they are 21, they put out this tweet:

As our previous blog mentioned, some care leavers, and others in the care industry prefer to align themselves with those that demonstrate the ‘positive’ portrayal of care leavers.

I believe 100% that positivity is the way forward. I am currently working on a PhD proposal that looks at this very subject, so I believe in the power of positive representation. I want to see an end to the public perception that children in care have done something wrong.

With support from the Scottish Government and Association of Directors of Social Work, Who Cares? Scotland’s 'Give me a chance: phase II' campaign is tackling the stigma and discrimination which children and young people in care and care leavers face.

Here are some podcasts made by some Scottish care leavers:

However, if we are to help the next care leaver who may kill themselves or worse be murdered – and we have been told about both of these distressing acts and have read about them in national newspapers – then we have to keep campaigning. Until there is support to 21 for ALL care leavers, we will have to continue letting the public know about these worrying negative statistics.

"Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving."-J K Rowling. Children in care are the same regardless of where they live.

Stop Press: There is to be an important debate in the House of Commons tonight Tuesday 21st January, 7pm, Watch Live Craig Whittaker, MP will debate the Staying Put agenda for looked-after children in residential care. This will be a chance for Edward Timpson to once again show that he really does care.

Rosie Canning – was once a care leaver but doesn’t live there anymore.

Some of my favourite writing blogs

So this is Christmas, another year nearly over. And what do we do around about this time of year? We tend to reflect on the previous one, what we've achieved, what we've won, new friends made, and what we've enjoyed. So just for a change, I'm keeping this short. Here are a very small selection of writing blogs and websites I've enjoyed. There are hundreds more but I've lately been reminded, no more than 250 words for a blog entry.

The Creative Penn
Joanna Penn offers some fantastic resources for writers.

Emily Benet
She is the blogging queen of London. As well as working full time on her own writing, she runs blogging workshops, is a published author and writes short stories. She is also very funny.

Dove Grey Reader
Bookaholic, sock-knitting quilter who was once a community nurse. She writes about, you've guessed it - books. Lots of interesting reads and some bargains worth picking up.

Lisa Cherry
Describes herself as Author, Speaker, Trainer, Coach, Chocolate lover and Coffee snob! She is wonderfully positive, writes mainly non-fiction, art journals and is an independent campaigner.

The Reluctant Perfectionist
This is fairly new blog and is already attracting a lot of interest. A writer with OCD who writes about OCD, very interesting plus I like the symmetry!

Morgen Bailey
As well as author interviews, writing exercises and all sorts of other writing stuff, I've included Morgen for her sheer energy and writing resilience.

So, we have free resources, humour, books, positivity, perfectionism, writing exercises - all the things we need to write!

All that's left for me to do is wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderfully creative new year.

Writer? Activist? Writer? Activist?

For some time now I have been feeling a wee bit schizophrenic, having to put on various outfits depending on what is happening out there in the fictional and real world. I feel I am losing my grip on who or what I am, or should be, or what I ‘ought’ to be writing on this blog. I see that other writers find a niche and they stick to it, whether it is chic lit, fiction writing in general or some other aspect of writing like publishing or blogging. I write fiction and non-fiction and I am also an activist and that is the problem.

I was very involved with Friern Barnet Library, and started a petition to re-open it. As well as campaigning for libraries, green spaces, and many other injustices, such as the way single mothers were ostracised in the 50s, 60s and 70s. I also co-run Greenacre Writers which involves various groups for people writing novels and short stories, workshops and the fantastic (recently renamed) Finchley Literary Festival. And on top of this, I keep my eye on issues that affect children in care and care leavers. I spent all of my childhood in care. I lived in a residential nursery, I lived with foster people, various family members and in children’s homes. So I have interests in many camps. In the last week or so I had been thinking about the new year and how this year I would be sticking to only writing about writing, I would not be tempted or sidetracked by political issues/stupidity. No, not me, from 2014, I would only write about writing and fiction. And then this happened:  Children to stay with foster families until they are 21 To which there has been celebratory response and I also join that celebration.

While it’s really fantastic that foster kids can stay with their families until they are 21 instead of 18, I question the legality of a decision that chooses one group of children in care over another. What happens to the children in residential homes when they get to 18? At the moment they have to leave. The current ruling excludes them. Approximately 9% of all children in care (68,000) will still have to leave care at 18. Is this just and fair? Natasha Finlayson, CEO of the Who Cares Trust, said via Twitter that it… 'Will be harder to extend support for kids in children's homes I think, but there is a rock solid equality case to be made.' I do not understand how a government press release that begins: ‘All children in care…’ can by the end of the first sentence conveniently omit nearly 7,000 children from the new legal duty on councils to provide support up until 21 years of age. These are the 7,000 children in residential care, children's homes, a minority not included in this new legislation. I dread to think how the children in those homes will be feeling after this news but having been in care myself, I can imagine.

This poster was done by a child in a children's home.

Ben Ashcroft is author of 51 Moves a story that chronicles the harrowing experiences of the social care and welfare system and his journey - the 51 times he moved premises between 9 and 18 years of age and its impact. He told me that many young people in children’s homes had contacted him to let him know of their distress and despondency at the news. Ben said, ‘There are a lot of us fighting the corner of young people in homes. They deserve so much better than to be treated like this. The stories of anger I have heard since yesterday from young people. They are feeling it! People need to stand up and be counted as all these young people deserve to be treated equally until 21. Nice to see so many people who do care!!’ 

Ben also shared a message from a 15 year old in a children’s home: ‘Just because foster children are settled in a family environment does not mean that young people in residential [homes] are not. I would love to live here until I am 21.' Ben added: ‘If you are in support of young people in children's homes getting the same support as Foster kids until 21+ please join our campaign. [Twitter @AshcroftBen and see details of the petition below.] It is only fair all looked after children get support until 21+ no matter where they live.’

It was while I was Tweeting my support to Ben that I saw another Tweet from Ian Dickson who is one of the organisers of The Christmas Dinner.* Some people don’t like Crowd Funding, but this is one that will add to the enjoyment of your Christmas dinner by helping young homeless care leavers who could possibly be searching rubbish bins for their Christmas food. Ian asked in Tweet speak: ‘…what happens if an 'older' foster placement breaks down? Res care or the street? Needs discussion.’ 

I realised the enormity of this was mind boggling, one day an 18 year old foster person is in care looking forward to three more years of having a home, the placement breaks down, as they often do, and the next day the young person is in a residential children’s home. Does he/she suddenly have to get out of the children’s home having lost the 3 years he/she would have gained in a foster home? I don’t know the answer to this question but whether it happens over days or weeks, there is NO government financial support for kids in children’s homes over 18 years of age.

And what effect will this legislation have on children in care who have already been separated or rejected by family - sometimes via the courts and ‘parent’ state that is supposed to protect them. Suddenly the 7,000 have become second-class citizens again, without a voice by the very institution that has very recently said in the Care Leavers Charter: ‘We will make sure you do not have to fight for support you are entitled to and we will fight for you if other agencies let you down…’ So what will the government do now - fight themselves? 

And what can we do?

We can begin to help make the change needed for those in residential care by signing this petition

So, there you are, another campaign underway. It's not as if there aren't campaigners that are also writers, George Orwell for instance, who wrote 1984; and Alice Walker who wrote The Colour Purple and many other social change books. She even describes herself as having been "an activist all of her adult life" and she writes fiction. So it looks as though I’ll have to put up with my split-writing personality for now, I didn’t even get to make a new year’s writing resolution before the activist in me took over and made me write this blog!

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*The Christmas Dinner is a pop up organisation founded by the poet Lemn Sissay MBE. Ian is part of a group of 12 professionals. Their aim is to provide a Christmas Day Dinner for care leavers aged between 18 and 25 on Christmas Day in Manchester. Many care leavers are sat in flats, B&B’s, hostels, away from family or are sofa surfing and indeed living on the streets on their own at Christmas. Christmas is a reminder of everything they never had. It's often a dreaded day. Not now. They will put on a scrumptious Christmas meal and create a magical day to remember at a secret location in Manchester where they will provide dinner for forty 18-25 year olds. 

*Another worthy Christmas cause is the Topѐ Project,  a volunteer run, youth led project, aiming to combat loneliness for care-experienced young people. The Topѐ Project is named after a 23-year-old care leaver who took his own life in 2010. His death had a profound impact on the young people who knew him, and after this tragic event the group came together to look out for and support one another. Each year since, the group has come together during the holidays for a Christmas celebration. Many care leavers dread Christmas and find it an isolating time. They are often not in touch with previous foster families or children’s home and spend the day alone in independent accommodation.

All that's left for me to do now is to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas. 

A Reader

Being a reader for short story competitions means I have to read a helluva lot of stories. There are many ways to start a short story - scene setting; conflict; mystery; and a narrator who speaks to you are just a few. I can usually tell from the first paragraph whether or not the story is going to work. I am also a reading detective and am often disappointed if from that first paragraph, I have worked out the plot of the whole. If I am reading for pleasure and am not hooked by that first paragraph, I can decide not to read any further, if I'm reading as a judge then I have to read on.

I am also a trained 'reader'. I underwent The Reader Organisation's, 'Read to Lead Training', some time ago. The Reader Organisation brings people and literature together, not just any old literature but 'great' literature. They use an innovative 'shared reading' model that brings people together for weekly read aloud reading groups. Stories and poems are listened to, thoughts and experiences are shared, personal and social connections are made. I recently ran a 'Make Friends with a Book', session in the restaurant of the hospital where I work. It was lunchtime and packed with nurses, doctors, other NHS staff and members of the public. I chose to share, 'Tea with the Birds', by Joanne Harris. A powerful story about loneliness, isolation and mental illness. It also happened to be Mental Health Awareness Week so it was the perfect story in the perfect setting.

I suspect that as Canadian author Alice Munro has just won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature, there will now be a revival of the short story form. Sarah Hall, winner of the BBC National Short Story award says: 'My feeling is that the short story is, if not gloriously ascendant in Britain, then airborne and at reasonable altitude'. And I agree, it has been a struggle but in all honesty the short story form has been slowly clawing its way back from banishment for some time. It was the 10th anniversary of the short story festival, 'Small Wonder' that is held every year in September, at one of my favourite places, Charleston - the former home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.

Having just completed another batch of short stories for the Greenacre Writers competition, I've been questioning: What makes a good story? I may change my mind in a few days but this week I am saying it is the subject. There will be those among you who say, any subject can work as long as it is written well, and yes this is probably true. For me though, it is what is at the heart of the story that is important. I have to be interested in what I am reading about as well as how the story has been written. And that of course comes down to the telling, the voice, the emotion, and often a funny little title. So it is not the first line that must grab your reader, it is the title. Put everything into that title - intrigue, emotion, strange voice, and if possible even humour.

'Tea with the birds' - what does this title conjure up for you?

Sarah Hall's winning story 'Mrs Fox', is about a woman who turns into a fox much to her husband's bewilderment. Here's an extract from the story: Mrs Fox

Do you have a favourite short story?