YPBMF Celebration Event 2025: the round-up
Along with the first-ever National Care Leavers’ Month, November 2025 saw our annual YPBMF Celebration Event return for its tenth year! It was a great day where care-experienced individuals were thoroughly celebrated and their amazing achievements were highlighted for all to see and to take inspiration from. Here to tell you all about it is none other than our YPBMF Legend and Sessional Worker Dyllan. Take it away, Dyllan…
Hi everyone, I hope you all had a lovely first ever National Care Leavers Month!
There have been so many incredible events going on up and down the country to celebrate and champion care-experienced individuals, which is incredible to see we are getting the recognition we deserve! One of these incredible events that happened which I would love to share with you all, was our amazing 10th Annual YPBMF Celebration Event for care-experienced individuals and personal advisors!
For those of you that have been to a YPBMF Celebration Event before hopefully you will be aware, but for those that haven’t, they are quite magical and are a hub of positivity, warmth and love for the care-experienced community and allied professionals supporting them! You might be wondering what magical things we got up to, so let us fill you in on…
Dyllan Watkins, YPBMF Sessional Worker
YPBMF LedgeTalk
This year’s NCLM theme was Rising As Me. Our amazing Legend from South Tyneside took to the stage to deliver her thoughts on this year’s theme, here’s what she had to say…
“Belonging is NOT a seat at the table. It is the quiet knowing that someone saved you a seat. When your roots have been cut and replanted too many times, belonging becomes more than comfort, it becomes proof that you existed in someone else’s eyes.
“But then, something beautiful can happen – you find spaces and communities where belonging is NOT conditional, and purpose does not have to be proven. Places in which you belong just because you are. Where your pain becomes strength and your wounds become scars. Your strangeness, an asset; and your emotions, a story.
“When these people gather, they share, they listen and build together… the result is immeasurable. The isolation that once defined us begins to fade, replaced by a collective heartbeat that drums the tune of acceptance and purpose in this world.” Imogen, YPBMF Legend.
I’m currently tearing up whilst writing this blog at how beautifully written this was and absolutely gutted I couldn’t join to listen in person to it! However, I soon arrived from my pretty uneventful train ride up to The Studio in Birmingham where the event was being held at and arrived just in time for lunch! From there it was a giant conga line from me getting off the lift to making my way through the event venue to drop my bags off of giving a hug to what felt like most people at the event (for context I wear lots of different job hats of things I’m involved within the care leaver community so I meet a lot of amazing people – I wasn’t going around randomly hugging people!) which really warmed my heart and got rid of the travel spaciness I had acquired en route.
From there I grabbed a bite to eat and saw the glorious towering chocolate fountain which has been a staple of our celebration events for the last few years now I believe (I am convinced that some people only come to the event for the chocolate fountain — it’s that good!) and also managed to catch up with my YPBMF family and all of the other amazing care-experienced individuals from all over the country & organisations in attendance.
YPBMF Panel
One of the big things that came out of the panel conversation was how much perseverance matters, you can’t get what you want without working for it, and it’s about pushing through those rubbish times. Having even just a couple of people in your support network can really boost you, and letting yourself be helped instead of going at it as ‘a lone wolf’ really resonated with me.
“It’s not easy doing what we do at the YPBMF but knowing we can go to an event and not be judged makes it a safe space. Saying “I’m a care leaver and I’m proud” was a big thing. There was this shared proudness, everyone on the panel was proud of each other and knowing everybody else there was proud of us too. Hearing people who haven’t had the best start in life stand up and say they’re proud of themselves was just really nice, and it’s not something you hear often enough. Being up there with the other Champions, feeling listened to, and having people clap and say well done was brilliant.” Darren, YPBMF Legend.
After lunch, we had a great video shared from the Josh McAlister, Minister for Children and Families, who wished everyone in the room the best for our Celebration Event and outlined some of his priorities he wanted to focus on to improve things for care leavers which was great to hear from such an important figure.
Awards
We then kicked off our care-experienced young person awards, which included our Local Hero awards and Best Poster competition which I think is one of the highlights of the day as it celebrates and champions care-experienced individuals that have done or currently doing something incredible, whether that be within their own local authority or nationally – everyone that was nominated deserved to win but well done to the winners and runners up for each award!
Winner of the YPBMF Local Hero Award 2025 was Lawrence from Cornwall for years of dedicated advocacy for care-experienced young people, including mentoring others, and leading on impactful campaigns.
Lawrence from Cornwall receiving the Local Hero 2025 award from Nat, NLCBF’s Co-Production and Engagement Manager (Photo Credit: Rylee Dickenson – YPBMF Legend)
“This award represents far more than my own work, it celebrates every young person who continues to prove that our voices matter and that we can make real, meaningful change. I’m truly grateful for this recognition. Carefree has played a huge role in my life, and it’s been an honour to support other care-experienced young people over the years. Thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged me. Growing up in care shaped my values and my drive to give back. From participant to trustee to advocate, I never imagined being acknowledged in this way. I’m proud to belong to a community that empowers and supports one another.” Lawrence, Cornwall.
Nominated by Mari Eggins from Cornwall, Lawrence’s dedication shines through years of active involvement, beginning at just 11 years old as a participant and quickly stepping up as a peer mentor by 13. Lawrence’s passion led to a place on Carefree’s Board, and later to a role as a youth worker. Lawrence’s impact is far-reaching — leading campaigns to secure free bus passes and launching a culture card in Cornwall, contributing to a film on housing, and writing for the DfE Children’s Social Care blog. Always a champion for others, Lawrence represents young people on advisory boards and inspires many to get involved in national forums such as YPBMF. Lawrence consistently uplifts those around him and sets a gold standard for supporting care experienced young people. What an incredible legacy of empowerment and positive change.
Runner up of the YPBMF Local Hero Award 2025 was Chloe from Leeds for using her own experiences with homelessness, alongside generosity, creativity, and an innovative mindset to support and inspire others.
Chloe from Leeds receiving the runner-up certificate for the Local Hero 2025 award (Photo Credit: Rylee Dickenson – YPBMF Legend)
“I am very proud of myself for winning the award!! Your past does not define your future, you can do anything you put your mind too!” Chloe, Leeds
James from Leeds nominated Chloe for her fantastic work transforming her own experiences with homelessness into a source of hope and practical support for others. Inspired by a YPBMF event earlier in the year, Chloe launched the @homelesstohomeleeds TikTok account that now reaches over 10,000 followers and millions of views, sharing everything from creative decorating tips to advice on overcoming loneliness. She then enrolled in courses to set up a CIC and started a GoFundMe to provide care packages for in person workshops, showing her commitment to empowering others, with many saying her story helped them transform their homes alone. It all began with Chloe attending YPBMF and Archway groups to build her own confidence, a true example of ‘Rising As Me’ and a very worthy runner up.
Winner of the Best Project was Durham!
Durham receiving their Best Project award from Nat (NLCBF). (Photo Credit: Rylee Dickenson – YPBMF Legend)
Celebrating Local Offers – Posters
“The poster area invites local authorities to highlight their offers and initiatives with a vibrant celebration of their Local Offers. As one of the judges for this it was all about getting stuck in and seeing what everyone had put together. My brain loves colourful things, so the bright, colourful, and eye-catching ones grabbed me instantly and reading them all I could see that people had put real effort in.
It felt good to be part of that process, helping make sure the posters met the criteria and giving people a reason to feel proud of what they’d done. For me, it’s not just ticking things off a list, it’s knowing that someone might walk away thinking, “I did that,” and feeling proud of themselves. That’s what the Forum is about: sparking ideas, celebrating creativity, and making sure everyone feels included.” Darren, YPBMF Legend.
A colourful celebration of Warrington’s Local Offer!
Positive Messages
Champions designed and ran a creative collaging activity inviting young people to make something that represents ‘Rising As Me’, celebrating the positive things that keep them smiling, lift them up, and make them proud to be themselves. We provided the colourful materials, and they delivered on the individuality, imagination, and inspiration!
Billie from Durham shares their phoenix rising from the ashes.
Danni from Solihull shares their collage
representing that there isn’t a right way to life.
Chereece from Stockport shares their collage representing us, family, friends.
No words needed to be shared, and we are all equal trusting and caring. We all have unique experiences however when we come together, we are one and a big family. Considering I never belonged anywhere due to the care system. I also have my own family my care community full of amazing passionate people who have been determined to not let our experiences consume us and instead here we are a community of caring, unique people determined to have positive impacts and change the system we lost ourselves in. I’m so proud of everyone and happy to finally belong. Thank you. [Chereece from Stockport giving us more insight on her collage.]
YPBMF Champion Graduation
“Graduating from Champion to YPBMF Legend felt like moving forward — accepting my year as a Champion is over, but there’s still room to do more amazing work. It was nice to have the ceremony. It was chance to say, ‘Wow, we did this, look at what we’ve all done and there’s still more to come’. It’s comforting to know that even when I come back as a Legend, it’ll be exactly the same — just like one big family.
“When it was announced I’d won runner up for Champion of the Year I was so shocked. I’ve got pretty low self-esteem and I genuinely thought everyone there was more deserving, but I was so proud. It wasn’t even about winning; it was feeling the support from other Champion’s and hearing people say, “you do deserve this,” “well done,” “I’m so proud of you,” even though I don’t always know how to take those comments. After having time to think afterwards and reading the feedback from my time as a Champion, it was like, ‘OK, yeah — actually I can see why I got this’. ” Darren, YPBMF Legend.
The graduation ceremony rounded off the event where Champions finish the 12 months programme of being a Champion and join our wider YPBMF Family as Legends which was really exciting to celebrate all of their amazing achievements over the last year which you can find out more about here.
We then had a bit of a debrief and plan for the Personal Advisor celebration the day after, went out for a lovely meal with everyone before ending the day by checking out the nearby Christmas market, it felt very strange feeling Christmassy in mid-November!
Feedback from the Celebration Event
Young people attending the event told us…
I like the sense of belonging, and to be surrounded by people who are the same and share the same passion for change as I do.
I think my favourite part of the event was the awards and performances. You can see that all the people involved put a lot of time into it and it was really nice to see them get congratulated.
The display of different authorities and their local offers was a real eye opener.
Champions and Legends told us…
No matter how far apart our local authorities may be throughout the country, we truly are one big community and one big compassionate unit.
The support, the family element and seeing so, so many of our YPBMF in one place at once, near the full family! Your opinions and passions count, and you are supported to show them off at the event.
YPBMF have helped me to try and be proud of myself for what I’ve achieved and have really been supportive and great to talk to when the world isn’t feeling too great and also pushing me.