Conference 2026

On Saturday 28th March 2026, we held our 5th Annual Black Care Experience Conference in the City of Manchester.

In a newly renovated church space, delegates who were Care Experienced, Social Workers, Foster Carers, Residential Children’s Home Staff, Directors, Managers, Therapists, Researchers and from our Children’s Social Care Voluntary Sector, gathered together from across the United Kingdom to understand the interpretation of our Theme: We’re All In This Together! What Part Do I Play?

Learning Together

After the Welcome, we moved into our Learning Together Workshop co-led by our Founder Judith AM Denton and Millie Kerr.

Split into groups, our Delegates were given real life scenarios and asked to consider and demonstrate how they would play their part in response to the needs, lived experiences and trauma of the Black Child or Young Person in their Care (in the scenario).

Before stepping into being solution focused, our Delegates were asked to pause and think about what they heard, what they saw and what they felt as they read their given Scenarios.

Now it’s fair to say that the Scenarios where thought provoking and hard to hear as the subject matters involved identity, belonging, culture, race, racism, discrimination, racial trauma, racial profiling, loss and separation, but with that in mind, we saw open and honest conversations taking place that were filled with shared experiences and a time for reflection on current systems and practice.

In Practice Together

When The Black Care Experience Charter launched in 2023, Kyloe House was one of the first of sign up with an openness and willingness to commit to learning how to play their part to improve their systems and practice care, to improve the care outcomes and life chances of the Black Children and Young People that come into their Care.

Please Note: Kyloe House is a purpose-built home which provides secure placements for up to 12 young people within the age range of 10 to 17 years on admission.

Here Patricia Chivers (Deputy Manager) and Laura Brown (Team Leader) guided us through their presentation on how they are implementing the 4th Commitment (see below) of The Black Care Experience Charter which was followed by followed by a Q&A.

“The Workforces to proactively seek to know and document the ethnicity of each and every Black Child or Young Person being placed in Care. The Workforces to proactively engage in understanding and promoting their culturally identity and meeting their cultural needs. Why? This will help the Black Child and Young Person have a positive sense of themselves and remain connected to their culture, identity and heritage as they journey through the Care System”.

More Information about The Black Care Experience Charter and how to Sign Up can be found here.

Sabrina Daniel took to the stage and shared parts of her story, giving us insight into how she came to be in the UK from Eritrea, to being placed with White British Foster Carers to being placed with Black Caribbean Foster Carers, who Sabrina referred to as her Forever Family.

It was this Forever Family who played their part by doing their best to keep Sabrina connected to her African Eritrean Culture and Identity, they taught her Black History, nurtured her to believe she can achieve her aspirations and gave her a real sense of belonging.

Listening To Lived Experience Together

Honouring What Was Before Together

In 2025, when we announced that we would be heading to Manchester, little did we know that we would hear about, find and meet the Co-Founders of the Bibini Centre, the First Children’s Residential Home for Black Children in Care located at 60a Wood Road in the City of Manchester.

Co-Founders Dr Adele Jones OBE and Delsierene Waul, were two Social Workers who volunteered their time to support the Manchester Black and In Care Group that was led by Rukiya Oseye.

Once a fortnight, the Black and In Care Group would gather a group of young people from wherever they were based, whether in a care home or foster care, for that day’s activity.

Over a couple of months, one young person was collected from three or four different addresses. The Social Workers and others found it outrageous that the care system could treat a young person with such disregard and expressed their outrage.

The young person in question, shrugged off this outrage with a challenge.

“Since you all work for social services, if you care so much about black children, why don’t you open a children’s home for us so you don’t have to wonder where I’ll be next week?”.

This was a showstopper of a question which really hit home, and the Social Workers began to believe that this was something they not only could do but should do.

This seed planted by the young person saw the Birth of the Bibini Centre ('Bibini', a Ghanaian word meaning Black) - see photo.

The Co-Founders and their Team, identified the land, commissioned an architect, raised funds to purchase the land, applied for planning approval, designed the home (with the help of the young people) and held community fund raising events which included a ‘Buy a Brick’ appeal which allowed local residents to ‘purchase’ a brick for £1 towards the building of the home.

But this was not easy, people protested because they didn’t want a home for black children in their area, but the pioneers were undeterred and went on to open a 9 x bed home specialising in culturally appropriate care on 2 acres of land in 1995.

There was no provision anywhere in the north of England specifically designed to meet the needs of black and minority ethnic children. In fact, at least as far as the voluntary sector was concerned, there was no such provision anywhere in Britain.

The Team went on to provide other services which included a Black Young Carers Group, Play Therapy and Bereavement Counselling, Asylum Seekers and Refugee Support, Family Support Service and partnered with Barnardo’s on a Leaving Care Project to provide 6 single person flats for the Young People to move on from the Bibini Residential Home with support.

Sadly, in the late 2003 Staff at Bibini were subject to redundancy with the home and the projects coming to a close in March 2004.

At our Conference we were able to present Delsierene Waul and Dr Adele Jones OBE (in her absence) with our Legacy Award for playing their part as pioneers and trailblazers of change for Black Children and Young People in the City of Manchester.

We’ll be sharing more of this History in Black History Month 2026.

Singing & Dancing Together

It goes without saying that we needed to be encouraged and uplifted for the journey ahead and Sheffield Community Choir played their part and did not disappoint. With their rendition of Bob Marley and The Wailers ‘Three Little Birds’ we sang along and encouraged each other not to worry about a thing, but that every little thing is going to be alright and we clapped, waved and loudly sang along to their version of ‘Lean On Me’ by Bill Withers.

This was indeed our version of Music Therapy that had our Delegates singing and dancing along and calling for an encore.

Moving Forward Together

From the inception of The Black Care Experience to now, there have been mindset shifts which have resulted in a change to how Black Children and Young People are seen and raised in Children’s Social Care Sector, but we still have a way to go.

With that in mind, through our Conference we saw and felt a real sense of community, a village equipped and ready to action their one thing and play their part to keep chipping away at the systemic injustices faced by our Black Children and Young People in Care.

This chipping away will not only see Policy, System and Practice change, but this chipping away will also see to it that Black Children and Young People in Care across the UK, are raised to feel proud of who they are and where they come from, nurtured to have a sense of belonging and affirmed to achieve their goals and aspirations.

It’s upon this basis that we’ve decided to take our 2026 Theme forward into 2027.

Join our Network to be updated as to Where and When or Follow Us on our Social Media Platforms.

BTW more of our Conference 2026 can be found here.

And on a final note remember to check out information here about our 2026 Summer Residential for our Black Children and Young People in Care.