The four-day Festival is led from Shetland and will feature a programme of online and in-person events, with local partners joining national advocacy organisation Who Cares? Scotland.
Previous Festivals have had a lighthouse theme, with Care Experienced people as symbolic beacons of brightness and light. This year’s Festival focuses on ‘Tending the Light’ - thinking of the care, energy and togetherness of lighthouse keepers for their light to shine bright all through the night, however dark or wild. This year’s Festival asks 'what is it to tend the light for Care Experienced children and young people across Scotland?'
Maggie Sandison, who is Chair of the Shetland Corporate Parent Board said: “I’m delighted to be involved in another Festival of Care, hosted again from Shetland. The festival demonstrates our commitment as a community to support those who have experienced care.
“It is an opportunity to celebrate the talents, achievement and resilience of our Care experienced young people and to recognise the contribution that they make to communities across Scotland. I think the festival will again help to focus our minds on what more we can to make a positive difference to their futures as we tend their light.”
Louise Hunter, Chief Executive at Who Cares? Scotland, said: “The Festival of Care started as a local event in Shetland in 2019, as a space for Care Experienced people on the island to connect, amplify their voices and campaign for change locally. It has since grown to a national offer with people being able to engage with aspects of the festival online or doing their own activities locally.
More information on the 2021 Festival of Care can be found at: https://www.whocaresscotland.org/who-we-are/media-centre/press-releases/being-the-light/
“We can’t wait for Shetland to once again open its doors to the rest of the country. By coming together, we can better understand how we can all tend the lights of Care Experienced people in Scotland to ensure that each and everyone of them can shine brightly.”
The Festival of Care is a partnership between Who Cares? Scotland, Shetland Islands Council, University of the Highlands and Islands, Life Changes Trust, National Lottery Community Fund, Hjaltland Housing Association, and Our Peer Education Network (OPEN).
More information on the Festival and details of the programme will be available soon.