Kinship Carer Research and Policy Advisory Group

CASCADE is committed to involving the voice of lived experience across its research work. The Public Involvement team (https://cascadewales.org/engagement/public-involvement/) at CASCADE is always looking for ways to involve wider voices. We are thrilled to announce this exciting new partnership with AFKA Cymru (https://afkacymru.org.uk/) and Kinship Cymru (https://kinship.org.uk/) to establish a ‘Kinship Carer Research and Policy… Read More

Research Methods Training

At CASCADE we have a commitment to involving people with lived experience of children’s social services in our research. We believe this is a vital part of producing relevant and impactful research. However, it can be difficult for adults and young people to contribute and understand what we do in research. Bridging that gap is… Read More

Film premiere: Harmful relationships and crime 

On Tuesday 11th July five inspiring young people visited SPARK to share the premiere of their two co-produced films exploring the impact of Child Criminal Exploitation. The event was hosted by CASCADE and attended by a small group of invited guests from across a range of related organisations. These included: Violence Prevention Unit, South Wales Police, Swansea… Read More

ECSWR 2023 – Milan trip

Even though summer is approaching, the memories of Easter are still fresh in my mind. In April, I attended the ECSWR (European Conference for Social Work Research) 2023 in Milan with a group of researchers from CASCADE, including Donald, Jonathan, Alyson, Clive, Sophie, Melissa, and myself. We all actively participated in the conference, with Donald… Read More

Involvement Blog May 23

Our Involvement Board is CASCADE’s strategic lived experience governance board. The boards’ main function is to hold us accountable, provide scrutiny, identify areas for improvement, and strengthen our relationships with our public, professional, and funding stakeholders. The board was originally set up to provide strategic governance for our ‘Public Involvement team’ only, but we are… Read More

Parents Influencing Policy 

Previously, a parent from our group had also given evidence with Dr Louise Roberts on their journey as a care experienced parent at a Petitions Committee review meeting.   So, on Wednesday 12th July, everyone who had contributed to the reviews were invited to attend the plenary debate for the reports in the Senedd building in… Read More

Welcome Elaine

My name is Elaine and I started at CASCADE right at the end of March. My role is to support the involvement of people with experience of accessing social care services in research. I will do this through working with young people and parents. The groups advise on different stages of research, to make sure… Read More

The 4C’s

Young people felt that carers should know what a young person has been dealing with along with their likes and dislikes and how to care and communicate with young people. They felt that carers should be kind, happy and motivational. When it came to what carers should do, there were a wide range of thoughts… Read More