News
Why shouldn’t you care? The voices of care experienced young people in Orkney amplified through art.
29 October 2026 | Written by A Care Experienced young person
Earlier this week, the Council released an article about Care Experienced Week 2026 in Orkney that detailed some of the week's events. One of these events was the unveiling of an artivisim campaign created by Care Experienced young people within the county. Following on from that article, a young person involved with the campaign was inspired to write their own, to go into further detail about the display of artwork and about the week itself.
"A new poster campaign, featuring original artwork created by a group of young people with care experience, is set to raise awareness of Care Experience Week and challenge the stigma that surrounds the experience of care in Orkney from Wednesday.
This project, delivered with support from the Articulate Cultural Trust in partnership with Orkney Islands Council, aims to highlight young people’s right to express themselves and have their views be heard in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The posters will be installed behind the Kirkwall Travel Centre on Wednesday 28 October. They have been crafted to spotlight the perspectives of care experienced young people in a public and colourful way, with bold messaging and strong visuals combined.
This unusual installation has been supported by Orkney Builders, who arranged use of the public space and donated key resources, while The Orcadian printed the large-scale artworks to mark Orkney’s contribution to Care Experience Week in Scotland.
Since Article 31 of the UNCRC - the right for all children to rest, relax and play - became incorporated into Scots law two years ago, the young people have been examining its meaning in Orkney. What good is a policy if it isn’t understood and practiced by who it impacts? This was the foundation for Articulate’s summer Artivism programme in Glasgow, aiming to empower young people to discuss and exercise their rights through creative participation. Across July and August, they delivered 26 creative engagement sessions with 38 children and young people, using graffiti, painting, collage and creative writing. This led to a public campaign billboards trail in Glasgow city centre.
Lively discussion and debate followed in Orkney, highlighting the need for awareness and change for care experienced young people here, and so, taking inspiration from Glasgow’s successful campaign, fed the idea of replicating this approach in an Orkney context.
The combination of words and images has been core to the development here. The collection shares raw and uncensored views that show the strength of the young people’s feelings, and highlight this generation’s boldness and aspiration for positive change.
Maura Gray, Care Experienced Children and Young People Co-Ordinator for Orkney Islands Council shared that
“this project is a chance for our young people to express themselves and have their voice heard through powerful pieces of contemporary public art. Often times, they feel injustice in the perceived understanding of what it means to be care experienced but they don’t always know how to frame this. The young people who contributed to this process have something honest to share, something worth listening to – art has been a pathway for them to do this.”
Care Experience Week is a national celebration and spotlight on the care community. This is the third year Orkney has marked this occasion, it has evolved and grown each year. This year’s theme is Forward to the Future, so the collaborators in Orkney have been keen to support the young people to express themselves, build public awareness, and challenge stigma in a visible and vibrant manner.
The young people ask simply: stand beside us! "