Children in Care

These are Staggering Statistics

As of late 2025 / early 2026, there were

107,000 Children in Care in the UK (NSPCC)

nearly 84,000 of which were in England

Around 65,000 were fostered

And over 18,000 were placed in Children’s Homes,

80% of which are run for profit

These figures are not abstract. They speak of interrupted childhoods, fractured belonging, and systems that too often fail the very children they are meant to protect.

I first encountered the realities behind these statistics during my undergraduate studies. Learning about the complex social, familial and economic forces that bring children into care stirred something lasting in me — a mixture of grief, outrage and responsibility.

My first professional role was in a children’s home in South Africa. Over the past fifty years, children in care have remained a constant thread in my life — challenging me, teaching me, and reshaping how I understand resilience, vulnerability and the meaning of home.

I no longer work therapeutically with these children — these often unseen and unheard treasures — but I cannot step away from the need to bear witness. Too many of them grow up without anyone consistently advocating for them, without voices raised loudly enough on their behalf. Through my textile work, I continue that advocacy in another form.

For the 2026 Voices in Cloth exhibition, I focus on the concept of HOME — not simply as a physical structure, but as safety, permanence, identity and belonging. The piece asks quiet but urgent questions: What does home mean when it is temporary? Who is responsible for holding it in place?

While I was unable to collaborate directly with a children’s home for this project, I have partnered with Become, a charity that supports young people as they leave the care system — often at a point when formal care ends but vulnerability does not. All proceeds from sales will be donated to Become, in solidarity with their work and with the young people whose lives continue beyond the statistics.

140cm X 185cm (silk, cotton, ribbon, tulle, wood)

GIVING VOICE - 2024 exhibition

In this exhibition my work is communicating my deep connection and engagement with the plight of children in Children's Homes. I have worked with this group for many years and want to give voice to some facts, concepts and questions that will interest all who care about the future generation.

My four pieces are all stitched into denim, a fabric chosen because it is common to us all, to both viewer and child in care. The embroidery is done in shades of yellow, orange and red, symbolising Life and Hope, Danger and Trauma.

When deciding what to put on the canvas my ongoing question is how can I symbolise the concept so that the stitch speaks. Both text and symbols are embroidered and they invite the viewer to consider the facts presented and the concepts of connection (and lack thereof) and of isolation, all of which are crucial in the outcome of these children’s lives.