Chris Wild

1996, I left care and found myself in a bedsit. My first Christmas Day I had a Pot Noodle on my own. Fast forward 30 years and young people leaving care are doing the same. How can we let this happen? Children in care are still children.

I agree that we need to raise awareness of children's social care across every sector, but awareness alone will not protect children. Our immediate priority must be capping referral fees and ending the profiteering of private hedge funds and investors who make millions from vulnerable children and young people. We need urgent reform of the laws governing privately run children's homes. Children are not commodities. They are not assets to be traded for profit. There is still no meaningful vetting process for those who own and direct children's homes. Let that sink in. Only months ago, a young girl was abused in a children's home by two managers. How many more children have to suffer before we stop putting profit before protection? The Government has the power to change this. The time for reviews and warm words has passed.

Government alone cannot change the outcomes for vulnerable children in our care system. Reports do not stop children from dying, and endless reviews do not keep them safe. Our care system has become so dysfunctional that it now needs a complete reset, backed by bold legislation, accountability, and the courage to confront the failures that have been ignored for far too long. While governments continue to tinker around the edges, thousands of our most vulnerable children and young people are living in fear, facing abuse, exploitation, homelessness, and criminal exploitation. If you choose to stand up for one child, you stand up for them all. While Parliament takes a break, our communities won't. We will continue to show up, speak out, and support children and young people wherever and whenever they need us. Because they cannot afford for us to wait.

There is a dark side to our care system that continues to be ignored. That problem will continue until we properly vet the directors of children's homes, stop unregulated homes from opening, and speed up Ofsted inspections so we can support the providers.

@JoshMacAlister Great work

Sometimes big things happen, but go fairly unnoticed. Yesterday, we launched Lifelong Guardianship Ceremonies. A new way for care experienced adults to recognise and celebrate the people in their life who love them - their tribe.

Our new podcast Care to Career Unwrapped explores the experiences, challenges and opportunities shaping the lives of care-experienced young people. Episode 1 features campaigner & advocate @ccwild79 🎧 Listen now on all major podcast platforms. open.spotify.com/show/033LgiMI5…

@piersmorgan There is light. Exceptional

This guy won us that game. Brilliant player. Big game hunter. Take a bow, Jude Bellingham.

@CllrGuzel @bevcraig Love

A great team out for our Greater Manchester Mayoral candidate @bevcraig

I ran away from Beaconsfield Reform School in Halifax, desperate to find my friend. We were both children in care. I was too late. I found him hanging from a goalpost. That moment changed my life forever. I made a promise that his death would not be in vain. Since that day, I have dedicated my life to fighting for a care system that protects children, listens to lived experience, and never leaves another child unheard. We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the care system. The time for talking has passed. The time for bold action is now. Let's build a care system where every child is safe, every voice matters, and no child is left behind. @andyburnham

Dear @andyburnham Please do not forget the children and young people in our care system. I urge you to make care experience a protected characteristic. The evidence is overwhelming, and the opportunity to transform lives is within your grasp. This is more than policy—it is about justice, fairness, and ensuring that some of the most vulnerable people in our society are no longer left behind. The decisions you make today will shape the futures of thousands of children and young people, many of whom will be casting their votes in the next general election. Please also recognise the extraordinary frontline professionals, foster carers, social workers, residential staff, and charities who dedicate their lives to supporting children in care. They are the unseen heroes who work tirelessly, often without recognition, because they believe every child deserves hope, opportunity, and a brighter future. History remembers leaders who have the courage to act when it matters most. Be the first Prime Minister to make care experience a protected characteristic and create a Cabinet of Change that puts vulnerable children at the heart of government. Let your legacy be one of compassion, courage, and lasting reform. Children in care are still children.

I recently met with the Halifax MP @Kate_Dearden to discuss, in depth, the support available for victims and survivors of Skircoat Lodge Children's Home. Our conversation focused on the urgent need for every local authority to provide safe, accessible, and trauma-informed pathways that empower survivors to come forward, be heard, and receive the support they deserve. Skircoat Lodge must never happen again. We owe that to every child who suffered, every survivor who found the courage to speak out, and every generation that follows. I truly believe that, if we stand together, we can ensure history never repeats itself.

@JoshMacAlister @MetroMayorSteve Love this. #changeiscoming

Major package of changes to build a new care system launched this week, working with @MetroMayorSteve at Juno children’s home.

My message to @andyburnham is clear, meaningful change can only happen by working alongside the care-experienced community. Those with lived experience must be recognised as equal partners in shaping the future of the care system. This cannot become another tokenistic exercise or a tick-box consultation. We need meaningful engagement, robust action, and genuine accountability. Most importantly, we need a permanent seat at the decision-making table—not as observers, but as valued contributors whose lived experience informs policy, practice, and lasting reform. Children in care are still children.

The horrors of places like Skircoat Lodge Children's Home must never be repeated. Yet today, a different kind of abuse is unfolding—one that is often hidden behind the walls of privately run children's homes. Too many vulnerable children have become commodities in a system where enormous profits can be made while accountability remains weak. There is still no robust vetting process for those who own and direct many of these organisations, and I have seen firsthand the scale of the profits being generated from children who should be receiving care, protection, and love—not being treated as business opportunities. Children in care are not revenue streams. They are young lives entrusted to the state, and they deserve safety, stability, and people whose first priority is their wellbeing, not financial gain.

@JoshMacAlister Great work. Change is coming

We’re on the road to fixing the care system but much more to do and some major announcements coming this week.

I've had hundreds of conversations with survivors of sexual abuse in children's residential care. The heartbreaking reality is that so many of these incredible people are still too afraid to come forward and tell their stories. They're terrified they won't be believed, won't be taken seriously, or that speaking out will open a can of worms they simply can't face. I know that fear because I've lived it. My own experience in care was horrific. Skircoat Lodge Children's Home was run with an iron fist, and paedophiles destroyed children's lives. Some of those responsible are still walking free today because victims and survivors haven't had the support, protection, or justice they deserve. That has to change.

We're still failing the most vulnerable children in our care system. There are two major problems. Ofsted takes too long to register providers who genuinely want to make a difference, while vulnerable children are placed in unregulated settings with no proper vetting of directors or staff. The government says every child deserves a safe and loving home, but that's not the reality. The care system has never been a political priority, and it's the children who continue to pay the price.

@safewordsorg And rightly so. Survivors need support, or they stay is silence and predators walk free.

@ccwild79 This is what I am worried about. 🤍

It is heartbreaking that survivors of Skircoat Lodge Children's Home have been left to suffer after bravely giving evidence in court and being forced to relive some of the darkest moments of their lives. These men and women found the courage to speak the truth about a house of horrors. Yet when the courtroom doors closed, they were left to deal with the emotional aftermath alone. No support. No aftercare. No response. Two weeks have now passed, and there is still no reply from the local MP, @Kate_Dearden, or @Calderdale. This is not about naming and blaming. It is about recognising that we can, and must, do better. If we expect survivors to come forward, tell their stories, and seek justice, then we have a duty to ensure they are supported every step of the way. #TheStateOfIt #Damaged

@UKLabour Lemn Sissay would make a great Mayor.

Congratulations to Bev Craig, Labour’s candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor!

@AndyBurnhamGM Don't forget about children and young people in our care system.

The first day back…