An animated film made by young people from Cambridgeshire leaving care has won a top national award.
Finding My Way – created by seven young people aged between 17 and 22 – is a three-minute documentary about the challenges and expectations of leaving local authority care.
It won the Best Documentary made by Young People category at the 7th BFI Awards ceremony held in London on Friday (February 21).
The youngsters - from the Cambridge, Wisbech and St Ives areas - became involved in the production to tell the story of their hopes and fears for living independently.
Four of the seven had taken part in a previous film project - My Name is Joe - which talks about what it feels like to live with foster carers.
Finding My Way is the result of a collaboration between Cambridgeshire County Council, Cambridge University, health professionals and schools. It can be seen on YouTube
A separate film – Finding My Way Behind the Scenes – tells the story behind the project:
This film has been funded by the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (NIHR CLAHRC) for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – a joint venture between the University of Cambridge and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with a wide range of Cambridgeshire and East Anglian health and service providers.
The film is online for other young people to get an idea of what to expect when leaving their care setting. It is also being used to help train carers and social workers.
Valerie Dunn, from the University of Cambridge department of psychiatry, said the films were made as a way of engaging young people to get their views across in a different and challenging way.