Perth and Kinross Champions Boards

Champions Boards are a place to:

• Share your views
• Access new opportunities
• Build friendships and support networks
• Learn life skills and understand your rights
• Influence how decisions are made about the care system

This work supports the Council's commitment to The Promise Scotland, corporate parenting and children's rights.

Who are Champions Boards for?

Our Champions Boards groups are for young people aged 12 to 26 who have care experience.

The groups are delivered by experienced youth workers from our Services for Young People team. We run: 

• School-based groups across all the Council's secondary schools
• Community-based groups at @Scott Street for:
  • Juniors (ages 12 to 14)
  • Transitions (ages 15 to 18)
  • Seniors (age 18 and up)

In these groups, young people learn about their rights, build confidence, work together to create positive change, and most importantly, have fun!

When and where are the groups held?

All city centre groups are held at 68-86 Scott Street, Perth PH2 8JW. Dates for Autumn 2025 are listed below.

•  Fortnightly on Wednesdays, 5pm to 7pm

•  Fortnightly on Tuesdays, 4.30pm to 6.30pm
• 18+ Group, Mondays, 5pm to 7pm

Want to join or find out more?

If you're a young person, parent, carer or professional, and would like to know more or refer someone, please contact Services for Young People - email ChampionsBoards@pkc.gov.uk. You can also keep up with what the Champs are doing via their Instagram account - @pkc_champs.

Useful links

• What is The Promise?
• YouthLink Scotland - Youth Work Outcomes & Skills Framework
• Corporate Parent Self-Assessment Tool (PDF, 2 MB)
• For parents with experience of care - The Why Not Trust - The Village

Recent Champions Board activity

Blairgowrie Champs leading the way

The Promise visited and interviewed Blairgowrie High School Champs to learn more about their Graffiti Art Project. Find out more about the project: Blairgowrie High School Champs Board colouring the school.

Our Hearings Our Voices - National Guides

We have been working closely with Our Hearings Our Voices (OHOV), and some of our young people have participated in creating the national guide 'Seeing Beyond the Surface: What We Wish All Adults Knew'. The guide is for all adults who engage with children with care and hearings experience and is made up of six themes identified by our young people and researched alongside children's groups from across Scotland. Our young people have been invited to be part of this event and to celebrate their contributions in October 2025. You can take a look at the Being Trauma Informed Guide on OHOV's website. 

Raising awareness of the importance of brothers, sisters and sibling-like relationships through animation

Young people have been working alongside The Fostering Network and Braw Talent to design and create an animation, 'Our Connections Matter' , on the importance of brother, sister and sibling-like relationships in care. This involved creating a script, designing the characters and sketches, voice overs and filming. The Fostering Network have arranged for the group to watch their video at Perth Cinema during care week in October 2025, and the group will celebrate their achievements together in @ScottStreet! In addition, they have also been invited to showcase the animation at a Community of Practice event organised by Stand Up for Siblings in September 2025.

Opportunities for care experienced young people

A number of learning opportunities are available for young people aged 16 and over with care experience.  Take a look at the Peer Learning Programme (Word doc, 583 KB) which runs until March 2026, and email championsboards@pkc.gov.uk if you would like to register for any of these.

Feedback from young people

Among the comments made by young people taking part in Champs have been: 

"Champs has helped us try new things'"

"I am more relaxed/calmer in classes" 

"Champs has boosted my confidence in school"

"It has helped my mental health"

"It breaks up my day" 

"I feel more welcome in school"

• 89% of young people participating in Champs felt that they had developed meaningful relationships through it.
• 84% would recommend Champs to other young people.
• 89% felt more confident in knowing their rights.
• 95% felt they had accessed new opportunities through Champs.
• 79% said they had developed new skills since coming to Champs.

Attendees at the Champs groups also took part in a survey in 2025 to express their views about the benefits of participating and where they felt services could be improved; take a look at the survey results (PDF, 3 MB) to find out more.

Feedback from parents and professionals

Both parents and professionals shared that Champs had supported their young person with improving confidence, feeling listened to, building friendships and connections, helped with school and life challenges.

100% of professionals (social work and education) reported that the Champs group has been a positive experience for the young people they support:

"Think it is fantastic the work you have done with this group. All of them have flourished and experienced increased confidence as a result. Thank you!"

"They have engaged positively and enjoyed building relationships with peers and staff. They speak positively about their experience in the group and are proud of the work they have achieved."

"A worthwhile and engaging experience for all the pupils involved."

"Well done for all the hard work you all put into this - Massively successful support for many young people."

Corporate Parenting and Champions Boards

Corporate Parents have specific duties and responsibilities towards care-experienced children and young people, up to the age of 26.

Corporate Parenting is about asking - "would this be good enough for my child?"

Our Champions Boards work collaboratively with corporate parents to increase awareness of what young people need in opportunities for young people. Some examples have included Skills Development Scotland (opens new window) NHS Tayside (opens new window), UHI Perth, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the Scottish Government, local Councillors and Education & Learning. 

The graphics below respectively show the tasks associated with corporate parenting, and the organisations in Scotland who have a corporate parenting role.

We also have links with organisations who are not corporate parents, but are incredibly proactive when it comes to supporting our young people with care experience. These include Grandmentors, MCR Pathways, Our Hearings Our Voices, National Leadership Network, The Promise (opens new window), the the Fostering Network (opens new window), Independent Advocacy Perth & Kinross, Mhor Collective, Who Cares? Scotland and VTO (Volunteer Tutors Organisation).