When I was 15 years old, I wrote myself a list goals to give me hope. One of them was to travel to Europe by the time I was 25. This year, I made it happen with a 7-week OE, backpacking around Europe and the UK!

I am so grateful I was able to make the most of already being overseas. I squeezed in two weeks of advocacy mahi for VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai and my trip was richer for it! 💜 I wasn’t just a tourist, I was able to meet other care-experienced young people in their home countries and learn about their advocacy.

Goals for the mahi trip:

• Learn from our sister organisations about how they have built their youth movements and youth participation
• Connect with other young and care-experienced advocates overseas
• Meet with the team at the Scottish Children’s Commission who had led the charge on getting UNCRC embedded into law (this is one of the government actions VOYCE has been calling for in Aotearoa to uphold the 6 promises)
• Share the incredible story of VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai

To view this in video format on Mary-Lynn’s instagram click here.

Become UK: London

In London, I spent the day with the team at Become UK. They are a national advocacy organisation for Care Leavers. They currently have a membership program for young care leavers who want to get involved with systemic advocacy – with over 200 members!  

They were really inspired by our 6 Promises campaign and how we’ve recorded that history in the Virtual Gallery.

I was also impressed by how integrated they are with schools in the UK, making sure Care Leavers have access to the information they need to pursue further education and university.  

I learnt that what “state care” looks like in England is very different to Aotearoa. Everything is done at a borough level – we don’t have borough’s here, but you can think of them like a small group of surburbs or electorate or even a hapu. Their systems are incredibly local.

Borough’s are required to be regularly engaging with kids in care about their experience and ways the borough can improve their supports for them. Many have their own youth councils, supported by Coram Voice and Catch 22. ☀⭐

A big mihi to Become UK for explaining this all to me and introducing me to teams at Coram Voice and Catch 22.

EPIC: Dublin

Dublin was next, where I spent time with EPIC (Empowering People in Care) chatting about youth-led advocacy and the importance of lived experience in shaping solutions.  

EPIC operates similar to VOYCE, with a focus on both collective advocacy and the 1:1.  

I met with one of their youth council members, Kai, who shared their advocacy achievements over the past few years. Their youth council had created some really cool resources for the LGBTQIA+ 🌈 community, to support young people, caregivers, social workers with what they need to understand, when a young person is coming out. You can check them out here.

VOYPIC: Belfast

I was invited to Belfast to visit VOYPIC (Voices of Young People in Care). They are the national advocacy organisation for care experienced young people in Northern Ireland. The timing was perfect as their entire executive leadership team was meeting that day to discuss their Youth Participation plans for 2025! 

There were so many overlaps in the history of Northern Ireland to Aotearoa New Zealand. We had deep conversations about the impact of British colonisation on society and ultimately the “care system”. There was a sense of solidarity in our shared struggles as countries 

I was blown away by the variety of leadership opportunities and trainings they offer for care-experienced young people aged 14-27 year olds. Being agile in Youth Participation was a common thread in our kōrero. 

Scottish Children’s Commission: Edinburgh

I managed to score a meeting with Bruce Adamson, a kiwi who was also Scotland’s Children and Young People’s Commissioner from 2017 – 2023. One of the greatest achievements of the Commission during that time was getting the Scottish Parliament to incorporate UNCRC into law. Scotland became the first country to achieve this—a groundbreaking win for children’s rights. 

I learnt that it was the Commission who drafted the first version of the law when Parliament was dragging their heels.  👀 food for thought for us back home in Aotearoa! We could start handing bills to MPs to put in the biscuit tin.

Who Cares? Scotland: Glasgow

“Fun” would be the word to describe my time at Who Cares? Scotland. I spent time with their Participation team, sharing ideas, learnings and successes between our two countries.  

I also joined their Glasgow youth participation group that evening. They were meeting in the office to prepare for the Love Rally. The Love Rally is about reminding the general public that all kids in care deserve a life filled with love – super similar to our mission here at VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai: All care experienced tamariki and rangatahi live with love and mana.  

It was an honour to join 1000+ people marching the streets of Glasgow for the Love Rally. I was one of the speakers when we arrived at George Square. I shared my spoken word “Call me hope”.

What’s Next?

I’m back with fresh energy, inspired by the care-experienced advocates I met and the insights we shared. I’m eager to keep supporting the growth of VOYCE’s youth-led advocacy movement in Aotearoa.