Foster care agency promotes young people’s participation on Minecraft

Events throughout this pandemic all over the world have been cancelled or moved online over video chat. Blue Sky Fostering would normally take their ‘Young Person’s Voice’ event to each of their local offices using a mix of fun and games, whilst discussing the issues that young people in care have and how Blue Sky Fostering can adapt to that change.

This year however, the agency has adapted to the current pandemic by safely hosting the event on a secure server in Minecraft, to keep the essence of fun whilst learning throughout the event. It allowed the young people to talk about things from their perspective and helped the agency learn more about their needs and views.

The entire Minecraft level was created to look like one of the Blue Sky Fostering offices by a young person cared for by a Blue Sky Foster Carer which piqued the young people’s interest.

Blue Sky Foster Carer, Orlanda Cooper, whose young people attended the event, said: "This was the first time my children got involved in the young person’s voice and they loved it! They had done similar things with our previous agency and they hated doing it as it was just filling out some forms. The Minecraft session was a whole different thing. It was fun, challenging, and interactive, the children came away from it buzzing!”

Blue Sky Fostering Training & Participations Manager, Ed Thompson, who organises the event, added: “We came up with a plan to make a Minecraft Blue Sky Office (an actual replica of our Ringwood office) and to invite all our young people to join us for 2 sessions of games and questions.

“Now, this was a huge task, we hadn’t done anything like this before and there wasn’t a “template” for what to do, but we are blessed with some great minds in both our staff and young people.”

You can help young people in the care system thrive in a safe environment by becoming a foster carer with Blue Sky Fostering and receiving enhanced training and 24/7 support. If you would like to find out more about fostering, call Blue Sky Fostering on 0800 035 6499 or visit their website at www.blueskyfostering.com