VOICES from Leicestershire Cares
The voices of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. Every episode you will hear stories and narratives from our diverse communities, including young people, community leaders and volunteers. These podcasts explore the memories, histories, narrative and systems which these young people exist in. Empowering them to tell their stories they way they want them to be heard. #TogetherWeCan
Take Me Seriously podcast EP 3
🎙️ Episode 3: “Take Me seriously Ep 3” — Power, Pressure & Owning Our Strength 👑 Take Me Seriously — A podcast by young women, for young women. In this episode, we’re flipping the script on the phrase “like a girl” — and reclaiming what it truly means to be powerful, emotional, confident, and unapologetically ourselves. 🎤 Guest host Sarah joins the conversation with Starla and Scarlett to explore how society puts pressure on girls to fit into narrow boxes — be pretty but not too bold, smart but not bossy, strong but not intimidating. We're over it. 💬 This episode dives into: The first time we felt proud to be girls — and why it matters. W...
He Said
🎙️ Episode 1: “More Than Man Enough” — Redefining Masculinity 🔔 Welcome to the very first episode of LFR He Said — where young men speak freely, honestly, and without judgment. What does it really mean to “be a man” in 2025? In this debut episode, our hosts break down the pressure, the myths, and the silent rules that come with being a young man today. From childhood messages to social media standards, we’re asking the questions that too many guys are afraid to say out loud. 💬 This episode explores: What makes someone a “real man” — and who decides that? Why crying, caring, or showing emotion is still seen as weak. ...
Take Me Seriously podcast EP 2
“Take Me Seriously” Tackles the Silent Struggles of Young Women in Latest Mental Health Episode Leicester, UK — The youth-led podcast Take Me Seriously has released one of its most personal and powerful episodes yet, opening up a crucial conversation about the hidden signs of anxiety and depression in young women — and why they’re so often missed. In the episode titled “Smile Through It?” — When Girls Hide What Hurts, hosts Starla, Scarlett, and Amy dive into the ways girls are taught to mask emotional pain with humour, silence, or perfectionism — leaving many struggling in plain sight. Drawing from personal experience and real-life stor...
All Things Youth Justice Mindset, Mistakes & Moving Forward
The Youth Justice team was honoured to host Toni Shergill on the All Things Youth Justice podcast. Toni, Community Navigator on the Phoenix Programme, joined us to discuss his experience in the justice system and the importance of mindset in moving forward.
18+ Take Me Seriously Podcast E.P #1
🎙️ "Take Me Seriously" – A bold, unfiltered podcast created by young women, for young women. From navigating monthly cycles to confronting toxic norms, Take Me Seriously dives deep into the real, raw, and sometimes messy conversations that matter. Each episode explores a different topics – think periods and puberty, orientation and identity, fashion and peer pressure, social media myths, financial literacy, and more. We even tackle the tough stuff: being friend-zoned, internalized sexism, and how women can sometimes uphold the very stereotypes we're fighting against. This is your safe space to laugh, learn, reflect, and rise. Whether we're breaking down beauty standards or buildi...
Leaving Care Parents Group Part #1
Join us for the Leaving Care Parents Group Podcast where we are joined by our care leaving Parents.
Power to change Conference podcast feedback
To mark the success of our highly successful Power to change conference we have put together a few sound bites from the day of attendees offering us some feedback of there experiences from the Power to change conference.
Power To change youth participants
Something a little bit different. The youth in our power to change youth group created a song talking about the power to change.
Jampacked EP4 Womans rights
Welcome to Jampacked Episode 4 where with guests from Everards of Leicester and a youth participant we discuss the topic of womans rights.
Jampacked EP #3 - Mental Health
In this week episode we are joined by Amy Cook Head of children and young people at Leicestershire Cares and Tracy Renshaw from Samworth Brothers, Talking on the Topic of Mental health.
Jampacked Podcast - Episode 2
This new mini series was delivered by a youth participant (Jameelah) who came to the power to change project with a strong desire to create a podcast an d talk on topics that have affected her directly.
Jampacked EP1-Homelessness
This new mini series was delivered by a youth participant (Jameelah) who came to the power to change project with a strong desire to create a podcast an d talk on topics that have affected her directly.
All Things Youth Justice Podcast - Clearing the Record: Life Beyond Crime with Dr Nicola Collett
All Things Youth Justice podcast - The Power of a Good Work Ethic with Bav Majithia
The Youth Justice team We were honoured to host Bav Majithia from @yiannimize on the All Things Youth Justice podcast, where he shared his journey to success and emphasized the importance of giving back to the community.
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All Things Youth Justice Podcast - WHO's IN YOUR CIRCLE ?
This month on All Things Youth Justice: Chikodi and Jenny sit down with Janik from the Fryday Podcast to discuss the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people and the positive impact it can have.
Our findings: care experience as a protected characteristic
The peer researchers on the Joining Up Joining In project have shared the findings of the report - Should Care Experience be a Protected Characteristic . The findings of the report highlighted the views of care experienced young people in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. There is strong support for care experience being a protected characteristic (93%). The significant themes that came out of the work were: - personal experiences - stigma and discrimination - impact of trauma - lack of support
Connecting the dots between Aces and Crime
Join Chikodi and Jenny on the Youth Justice podcast as they delve into the connection between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and crime with special guest, Crae community navigator from the Phoenix program, sharing his real-life experiences.
Power to Change Project - Digital workshop podcast 001
Power to change project presents a Digital media workshop - podcast 001, with young the young people of Leicestershire, this is our first session back after a short break and we enter a new series, this episode was our first back with whole new line up of young people who came to engage, have some fun and learn some of the basics of podcasting and all things digital media so in this first session we allowed them complete freedom to be open and discuss whatever topic that they felt like covering. Enjoy.
Introduction To Violence Intervention Project
Introduction To Violence Intervention Project with Chikodi and Jenny from Leicestershire Cares
Care experience as a protected characteristic?
Leicestershire Cares presents the Joining Up, Joining In Podcast. Joining Up, Joining In aims to give care experienced young people a voice on the issues that matter to them. We’re delivering the project in collaboration with Learning and Work Institute and is funded by the Blagrave Trust. Young people on the project have recently been exploring whether being care experienced should be recognised in the Equality Act 2010 as a protected characteristic. This is a debate that local authorities are having across the country, following the publication of the Review of Children’s Social Care in England. It was great to w...
Improving care leavers’ experiences of the welfare system
What are care leavers experiences of Universal Credit?
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Care leavers face a number of challenges as they prepare to leave the care system and navigate towards living independently at a young age. They often need support to help them move into education, employment or training. However, there is evidence that the welfare system isn’t doing enough to support care leavers.
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Through consultations with care leavers, desk research and expert interviews, L&W and young people from Leicestershire Cares, Drive Forward and Homes2Inspire have identified six policy changes that we beli...
Community in Action: Covid-19 Vaccine information in Gujarati
This Podcast discusses COVID-19 in different languages to inform our diverse communities of the most frequently asked questions relating to Covid-19 Vaccination and the importance of having the vaccine when offered to us. The aim is to empower our communities to make informed choices and tackle misinformation and cater to these needs in their native languages from trusted voices within their communities.
Twitter: @LeicsCares
Zamzam@leicestershirecares.co.uk
#TogetherWeCan
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Jobs change lives. How can we support more Care Experienced Young People into Employment?
How can we support more Care Experienced Young People into Employment?
Why might care experienced young people need support into the workplace?
Why should businesses support care experienced young people into employment?
What could businesses do to support care leavers?
What do care experienced young people want businesses to know about them?
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This podcast, will give an insight into the issues facing care experienced young people looking for work. It will give ideas on how to support them before and during the recruit process, and when they a...
Community In Action: Covid-19 Vaccine information in Romanian
This Podcast discusses COVID-19 in different languages to inform our diverse communities of the most frequently asked questions relating to Covid-19 Vaccination and the importance of having the vaccine when offered to us. The aim is to empower our communities to make informed choices and tackle misinformation and cater to these needs in their native languages from trusted voices within their communities.
Twitter: @LeicsCares
ZamZam@leicestershirecares.co.uk
#TogetherWeCan
Community In Action: Covid-19 Vaccine information in Polish
This Podcast discusses COVID-19 in different languages to inform our diverse communities of the most frequently asked questions relating to Covid-19 Vaccination and the importance of having the vaccine when offered to us. The aim is to empower our communities to make informed choices and tackle misinformation and cater to these needs in their native languages from trusted voices within their communities.
Twitter: @LeicsCares
ZamZam@leicestershirecares.co.uk
#TogetherWeCan
Community In Action: Covid-19 Vaccine information in Somali
This Podcast discusses COVID-19 in different languages to inform our diverse communities of the most frequently asked questions relating to Covid-19 Vaccination and the importance of having the vaccine when offered to us. The aim is to empower our communities to make informed choices and tackle misinformation and cater to these needs in their native languages from trusted voices within their communities.
Twitter: @LeicsCares
ZamZam@leicestershirecares.co.uk
#TogetherWeCan
Fostering A New Approach Episode 8: Care Experienced Christmas
Leicestershire Cares’ latest care experienced podcast, Fostering a New Approach, explores the issues surrounding being care experienced around Christmas time.
This episode Casey and Diana speak about past experiences, coping mechanisms and things to do.Â
Christmas can be difficult for care experienced young people. Lots of things shut down such as schools, colleges and universities resulting in those places of safety, connection to friends and community are not there anymore.Â
People that work with care experienced people (not all) take time off, and lonely isolated people can feel even lonelier.
Social medi...
Fostering A New Approach Episode 7: Going to university when you're care experienced with Kim Emenike
Leicestershire Cares’ latest care experienced podcast, Fostering a New Approach, explores the issues surrounding care experienced young people and university.Â
This episode Casey and Diana speak to Kim Emenike, a care leaver and recent graduate from Loughborough University
Only 12% of care leavers make it to University compared with the 43% of the general population who participate, and once there over half of care leavers consider dropping out of university due to a mix of health problems, money worries, high workloads and personal and family issues
It can be hard, but it can also be rew...
Fostering A New Approach Episode 6: Care Experienced and the Criminal Justice System with Dr Claire Fitzpatrick
Leicestershire Cares’ latest care experienced podcast, Fostering a New Approach, explores the issues surrounding care experienced young people and the criminal justice system. This episode Casey and Diana are joined by Dr Claire Fitzpatrick, a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and the Youth Justice Lead in the Centre for Child & Family Justice Research, at Lancaster University.
This is a massive and complex topic that will take more than today’s show to unpack, and in future episodes we hope to speak to a range of people involved, from young people with experiences of the criminal justice system, to the...
Fostering A New Approach Episode 5: Unregulated accommodation for children in care and care leavers
This week Casey and Diana talk about independent and semi-independent accommodation, which includes hostels, foyer, flats, shared housing and supported living. At the moment these provisions are unregulated so there is no national standard for them and they are not open to inspections from Ofsted.
Main talking points:
When are you really mature enough to only receive support and not care?The pros and cons of living independently or semi-independently.The quality of accommodation. “If a staff member walks into a room and thinks, I wouldn’t sleep in here, then why am I expected to?”The ris...Fostering A New Approach Episode 4: Housing and Accommodation
Main talking points:
The relationships built between young mothers in a Baby and Mother unit.Lack of support from the state and the need for charities to support with food, mental wellbeing and isolation.Lockdown rules in a hostel and how they make life harder for mothers and babiesThe feelings of freedom when you walk into your new home.The bare-bones of council accommodation. No carpet, no curtains, no white goods.Setting up your own business as a young mother.Tanisa’s new business
Mama Zuri Candles https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MamaZuriCandles
...
Fostering A New Approach Episode 3: The Exit Strategy for Care Leavers
Main talking points:
Casey and Diana talk about the exit strategy which in their eyes, requires the online support that has developed over this time, to stay and for it to now work alongside the face to face interaction with support services.Casey and Diana also call for a bigger push for the Promise to Care, as there will be a need for businesses to step up and strengthen and lead the new community that has blossomed during lockdown. Local governments will probably struggle with more cuts resulting in more care experienced young people missing out on vital...Fostering A New Approach Episode 2: What makes a good support worker for care experienced young people
Two care experienced young people, Casey and Diana, talking about stuff. It might be about care experienced issues, past experiences, policies that affect care leavers and looked after children, it might be about what they saw on TV last night.
This second episode Casey and Diana talk about what makes a good support worker.
To ask a question for next weeks show Tweet: @LeicsCares #CEYPPODCAST
www.leicestershirecares.co.uk/
Fostering A New Approach Episode 1: Care Leavers and COVID-19
Leicestershire Cares has set up a podcast to help keep two of their participants connected. The care experienced duo now have a date in their diary each week, where they can record their podcast, helping them reduce the boredom and isolation brought on by the coronavirus lockdown.
Casey and Diana will be exploring issues facing care leavers and over the following weeks will invite guests onto their podcast to investigate what can be done to better support care experienced young people.
If you have a questions for them to discuss on their podcast tweet them...
