Steam train trip rounds off another huge Kinship Care Week 

On Sunday 8 October, Kinship celebrated the final day of our most engaging Kinship Care Week yet with a nostalgic steam train ride for kinship families in Bury.

Families from across the North West of England enjoyed a 12 mile journey on the East Lancashire Railway, which included an afternoon tea as well as magic entertainment. Susan, a kinship carer said: “Events like these promote kinship care so you don’t feel so alone all the time. You meet other kinship carers in the same boat as you.”

Between 2 and 8 October, Kinship marked another huge #KinshipCareWeek to celebrate the incredible role that kinship carers play in children’s lives and society. This year, the theme of Kinship Care Week was #DoOneThing to raise awareness and keep kinship care in the spotlight. Kinship care support groups up and down the country hosted in-person and virtual tea parties, allowing kinship carers to come together and celebrate Kinship Care Week. Other events included an outing to Mamma Mia in London, a lunch in Pontypridd and a giant tea party at the Royal Station Hotel in Newcastle.

One kinship carer said at their event: “Finding the Wakefield Group was the best thing to happen to me, I don’t feel alone anymore, they are a fantastic circle of people who I now consider friends, we are there for each other to support and advice.”

Since Monday 2 October, 138 news articles have reported on Kinship Care Week, reaching millions of people. Kinship care featured on national news outlets like BBC Breakfast, BBC News 24 and Channel 5 News. Kelly, our Senior Campaigns Officer and aunt kinship carer also featured in a blog on Penguin’s website to support the launch of author Laura H Allain’s book My Family Your Family which explores the concept of family and devotes a page to kinship care.

On social media, Kinship Care Week content has so far reached over 100,000 people and was supported by the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Royal Foundation, Comic Relief, the Department for Education, The Children’s Minister David Johnston MP, local authorities, MPs, Local Councillors, businesses, social media influencers and the wider public.

Click here to see how people got involved in Kinship Care Week by visiting our social media channels: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.