In this blog, I am going to be talking about what it was like for me as a care experienced person to celebrate the Easter season, but most importantly what it is like to celebrate it on my own as a care leaver compared to being in the fostering system.
As we enter the time of year that most of us who are religious and those who are not celebrate, being a care experienced person makes the whole celebration a lot worse than it is for those who are living with parents as it can sometimes feel that it is another reason to feel that you are different.
Throughout my time in care and even now as a care leaver, celebrating special events such as easter can sometimes feel very difficult as being in care made me feel that I never felt that I belonged anywhere and did not know what I celebrate or what I believe in.
A lot of the time, this happens a lot for those who are in care, as when they are with family, you are able to celebrate those special occasions and religions that you believe in, but being in care sometimes it can feel that you are not able to as you have been taken away from that background that you believe in, but this is not always the case for everyone.
For many care-experienced people, they are able to be placed in a foster placement where they encourage to keep the religious prospects and celebrations that come with the young person, but for those who are not as lucky have to drop and leave their religious beliefs behind as some foster parents do not believe in such religions.
For me as a care leaver and someone who has been in care, I feel that this is appalling, as for someone to be placed into care, the young person would have gone through a traumatic and horrible ordeal, so having been placed into care and having all this happen to them, having their religion taken away can make someone feel very lost and that they are having every part of who they was stripped away from them, which from my own experience can feel traumatic as a lot of the time you can feel that you do not know who you are or where you belong…. It is almost like the young person does not fit in anywhere, which for the first few years of my time in care is how I felt.
So, a message for young people who are in the fostering system, but also for care leavers, being in foster care and even entering independence as a care leaver, can make you feel very lonely and that you are losing everything about yourselves, but keeping hold of what you believe in such as your religion can be a great thing… Never let anyone take this away from you as keeping your religion with you and suggesting to your foster carers that you want to keep celebrating and believing in your religion, is a good thing for you can make everything a lot better.
Just because you have been placed into the system does not mean that you should stop believing in or celebrating the events that you want too because nothing has changed, and you are still the same person you were, you just need to tell your foster carers how much your religion means to you.
By Anonymous Care Experienced Blogger
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