Spoof site exposes care plight

Spoof sight exposes care plightChildren’s charity Barnardo’s has set up a spoof bed and breakfast site to highlight the housing conditions facing young people leaving the care system in England.
Supporting National Care Leaver’s Week, at first glance the site (at http://www.carebandb.org.uk/) looks like a glossy website for tourists booking desirable and comfortable B&B accommodation. But site visitors soon see examples of the disgusting places some young people leaving care are expected to live in.
The online brochure builds on the actual experiences of care leavers. It advertises a selection of cheekily-named B&B’s including ‘The Grim Retreat’ and ‘Mournful Inn’. The reviews for each parody those found on tourist websites with feed-back like ‘Be unpleasantly surprised’ and ‘Isolation with a cold shower’. The reviews are accompanied by dismal pictures of run-down bedrooms and filthy bathrooms.
The site urges people to support Barnardo’s Beyond Care campaign. The charity is urging campaigners to contact their local councillors to demand better conditions for the country’s care leavers in desperate need of a suitable roof over their head. Members of the public can bring the issue to the attention of their local councillor by simply entering their details on the site. An email will be then issued to their councillor from their own email address, via ‘Carebandb’.
Ahead of the Government’s assessment of the care leaver strategy, due to take place this month, Barnardo’s hopes the site will give a clear sense of the harsh reality facing these young people. The charity is asking supporters to help put pressure on local authorities to reduce use of B&Bs to emergency instances only. Figures previously gathered by the charity show that 51% of local authorities are placing care leavers in squalid B&B accommodations for long periods of time, against government guidelines.
Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said: “The site is a tongue-in-cheek way of getting across a serious message about care leavers forced to live in cold, stark accommodation. The reality is that while many browse inviting websites filled with cosy and welcoming B&Bs for the perfect weekend away, our vulnerable young people have no choice but to accept the unacceptable.
“We recognise that local authorities are working with limited budgets but they need a range of ways of providing emergency accommodation. Our new guidance for local authorities and our Beyond Care campaign aims to help councillors provide better support to care leavers.
“Many young people leaving care have already had horrific childhoods. We owe them a better start to adult life than this.”

1 Comment on "Spoof site exposes care plight"

  1. Spoof Barnardo’s site exposes care plight http://t.co/miwRvxXYLU #digitalmarketing #charity #directmarketing #advertising

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