Using your voice to bring change
Rayya is from Cardiff and is currently fulfilling her childhood dream of studying interior design at university.
I’m 20 years old and have spent most of my life in care. I love horses and dolphins, as well as listening to music, watching TV series and reading Jane Austen.
Studying interior design has been a goal of mine since I was in Year 6. I chose to study in England to get out of Cardiff – I just needed the independence. As well as studying, I’m also volunteering with different charities and organisations, like NYAS and The Fostering Network. I didn’t know you could volunteer until a couple of years ago, and now I really feel like I’ve found my passion. I’ve already decided that I’m going to do a youth work postgraduate course with a focus on volunteering.
In the future I would love to be an international youth worker, working with young people around the world, helping them to have a voice and speak up. It’s really important for young people to be listened to, for their voices to be heard and actions to be put in place to make the changes they want happen.
I feel strongly about this because, as a young person, I feel like my voice was never really listened to. That’s also why I like volunteering with different organisations and charities as I’m able to voice my opinions and they’re actually acted upon.
I would also love to open up my own charity that helps people in care with their mental health, as that’s something I experienced and I don’t want other young people to face it.
I don’t think I had, or have, a pathway plan – and I think it would have been helpful to get me ready for independence. I did have a PEP (personal education plan), but I was never listened to about what I wanted in it. No one communicated with me – even about why I was fostered. I know I can access my social work files now, but I’m too scared to read them because I don’t know how I would deal with what I read.
For budgeting and cooking I’ve got TikTok! There’s a Budget Binder on TikTok. NYAS had a “budgeting for cooking” session which looked at healthy eating on a budget. The woman showed us what she had brought and how she’d used cheaper own brand items, and how to make food which we could use for more than one dish. My foster carers also taught me some basic cooking skills.
I would say that being in foster care is hard, and it doesn’t necessarily get easier as you get older. But, there is support out there and your voice is a powerful tool and you should use it. The only way foster care will get better is if you use your voice.
