Cathy Ashley 🇺🇦

Ultimately it’s not a hard question, or shouldn’t be: if there were a website called creepywank dot org, where you could upload any picture or screengrab of anyone and get AI to produce a photorealistic picture of that person, regardless of age, in a state of undress…should it be legal in the UK?

Come join our team at FGF:

* Communications Coordinator - who will devise & deliver communication campaigns to raise FGF's profile, reputation and reach

* Researcher - who will conduct research & analysis in support of FGF projects and workstreams

www.futuregovernanceforum.co.uk/vacancies/

Today the Government has announced a new package of support for care leavers, including free prescriptions, dental care and eyecare for care leavers up to age 25.

https://frg.org.uk/news-blogs-and-vlogs/news/new-support-including-free-prescriptions-for-care-leavers/

Am very unimpressed by people who only challenge racism, antisemitism and other vile behaviours when it's committed by a political opponent. . Ps the word weaponisation should be banned

I remember the times when I've been at the receiving end of antisemitic abuse. Including when it happened in my youth. It stays with you. So rather then deflecting & worse - Farage should either apologise or admit that such anti Jewish racism is what he still thinks.

Promotional graphic from the Family Rights Group about advice resources for when a child is deprived of their liberty. It features a search bar with the query “What does it mean when a child is deprived of their liberty?” and a photo of a young person in a red sweater and headphones sitting cross-legged. The background is purple with white text offering free specialist advice for parents and carers. The Family Rights Group logo is displayed in the bottom right corner.

🔎 Worried about what deprivation of liberty means for children?
Family Rights Group has clear advice on DoLs & secure accommodation orders.
👉 Learn about your rights & get support
https://frg.org.uk/get-help-and-advice/what/deprivation-of-liberty-dols-and-secure-accommodation-orders-for-children/

OPINION: We called out far-left Jews as fringe. We must do the same to the far-right - Jewish News The health of our community depends not only on the statements made by institutions but on the conversations we have with each other, writes Adam Langleben

A superb piece.

www.jewishnews.co.uk/opinion-we-c...

Two Northumberland Reform councillors suspended Councillors Nicole Brooke and Patrick Lambert have the whip suspended pending a party investigation.

BBC News - Two Northumberland Reform councillors suspended - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This Sunday 5.45pm #Lab25 conference. Hear from AJ & Salma, care experienced young people how we can transform our care system so no child is left isolated & alone. Speakers also incl Children's Minister @joshmacalistermp.bsky.social & me.
I promise you it'll be a fringe meeting like no other.

Russia has network of 200 camps for ‘brainwashing’ Ukrainian children – report Investigation uncovers documents and satellite imagery that confirm children being taken to sites for patriotic indoctrination, weapons training and combat drills

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Russia's war crimes include kidnapping Ukrainian children who are taken to sites for patriotic indoctrination, weapons training and combat drills

Chilean mother reunites with her twin daughters for the first time in 45 years | CNN A Chilean woman whose twin daughters were stolen from her in 1979 has reunited with them for the first time in four-and-a-half decades.

"The Children of Silence" - Chilean babies stolen and adopted by Europeans, thanks to Pinochet. 🥚 #adopteesky

edition.cnn.com/2025/09/16/a...

A newcNAO report "The cost of supporting looked-after children in residential care almost doubled bet 2019-20 & 2023-24 to £3.1 bn"
Grotesque profiteering at the expense of children, families & the public purse. There's a strong case for a windfall tax on profits from private residential providers.

Thr Government should just do this.
A radical, popular step that would transform millions of children & families' lives.
No child should be born into & have to live poverty - it blight lives & our society.

Polling from @Moreincommon_ on Lucy Connolly

More than half think her sentence was too lenient or about right. Only a third that it was too harsh.

Only 18% think politicians should associate themselves her, while 51% think they should actively distance themselves from her.

Today, the Education Select Committee released its latest report on children’s social care in England. It shines a spotlight on the struggles many families are facing—and the urgent need for change. See below how our Chief Executive, Cathy Ashley, has responded to the report.
ow.ly/7MAy50WnEra

Come and work with me!
@familyrightsgp.bsky.social is recruiting an Executive and Policy Assistant.

Good news for 100,000s of children, parents & #kinship carers - all children in a household on Universal Credit will now be eligible for free school meals

✈️ Lifelong Links goes international!

We’re excited to share a glimpse from a recent trip to Oslo, where @cathyashley.bsky.social and @pamledward.bsky.social alongside FGC service manager Nicky Pallis, presented Lifelong Links to Norwegian sector leaders.

#LifelongLinks #BuildNotBreak #Norway #Oslo

What an ignorant column in today's @theguardian.com Makes the bizarre assumption that children in care don't have any parents (or presumably families) -& answer to all lies in adoption. No exploration of safely averting children entering care, or reunification, kinship or foster care.

#Coys
Worth the wait🤣

Taking the long view on family-group decision-making - CYP Now Tackling the serious challenges facing children and young people can feel overwhelming, and conversations about what we can do about it can feel like they go round in circles.

In a new blog for Children & Young People Now, FRG Chief Exec @cathyashley.bsky.social and @childrenfirst.bsky.social Chief Exec @margl24.bsky.social tell us to take a step back and reimagine how we support children and families in need.

Read the full blog here: www.cypnow.co.uk/content/blog...

At least 23 children and 9 aid workers reportedly killed in Al Fasher, Abu Shouk and Zamzam camps in North Darfur, Sudan Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell

"At least 23 children and 9 aid workers reportedly killed in Al Fasher, Abu Shouk and Zamzam camps in North Darfur, Sudan" @unicef.org
www.unicef.org/press-releas...

Sudan Clinic Workers Killed in Zamzam Camp Relief International said nine employees were killed when gunmen stormed the Zamzam camp in El Fasher, in the western Darfur region.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan have killed the entire staff of the beseiged Zamzam camp's last medical clinic & killed at least 100 camp residents.
My friend's sisters & little children are in this camp in Western Darfur.
#Sudan
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/w...

🎬 New Film Alert!

Parents with learning difficulties often face barriers navigating children’s services. Our new film with
@SpeakupSA explains:

🔹 How social workers should communicate
🔹 Key processes & terms
🔹 Support you can seek

📽️ Watch here: ow.ly/iZf950VtS83

School Swap: UK to USA review – full of beautiful moments that make you cry big, blobby tears This exchange between teens from south London and Trump-loving Arkansas is funny, touching and hugely eye-opening – in ways you do not expect

Huge kudos to pupils & teachers @elmgreenschool.bsky.social for participating in #SchoolSwapUKtoUSA on @channel4tv.bsky.social Definitely worth watching. Would love to know what you think. My daughter went to Elmgreen School & i helped set it up.
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Thanks to MPs & Peers on @appgkinshipcare.bsky.social
for raising the challenges some kinship families are facing booking appointments for the children they are raising to receive crucial therapeutic support. Government must confirm funding ASAP.

@melanieonnmp.bsky.social @munirawilson.bsky.social

PIP benefits: 'Worrying' number of teens lose payments at age 16 More than 124,000 young people have had claims for adult disability benefits refused, the BBC finds.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Last chance to book - don't miss this event celebrating 50 years of @familyrightsgp.bsky.social Baroness Hale reflecting on the past 50 years of child welfare & family justice in England & Wales- & exploring the next 50. Plus reception & dinner with Sir Andrew McFarlane & Rt Hon Alan Johnson

A big win for @familyrightsgp.bsky.social - the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill requires English local authorities to publish a kinship local offer setting out what support is available for kinship care households. But we need the Government to go further- read how frg.org.uk/news-blogs-a...