Celebrating Care Day 2026: The Future Starts With Us

On Friday, February 20th, we celebrated Care Day 2026! This year’s theme, “The Future Starts With Us,” was chosen by EPIC’s Care Community and Youth Council Members. It celebrates the dreams, hopes, and ambitions of care‑experienced young people, while reminding us that every young person deserves the opportunity to shape their own future.

To build excitement in the lead-up to Care Day, we launched an online message wall and invited everyone to leave “A Message of Care.” These uplifting messages were created to show care‑experienced young people that their voices matter and that their community is standing with them.

“To one care‑experienced person to another: don’t let anything stop you from reaching your goals… You are enough, and your voice is powerful.”

“Happy Care Day to the care community. Being in care is part of our story — it shaped us but does not define us… Do not let anyone dim your light.”

These messages really captured the spirit of the day. To view more messages, visit the Care Day Message Wall.

On the day itself, we hosted an under‑18s event at Core Youth Service, welcoming children and young people from across Ireland for an action‑packed celebration. The event featured drumming workshops, games tournaments, spray‑painting sessions, and plenty of pizza. To close the day, participants brought their individual art pieces together to form a collaborative display spelling out #CareDay26. The vibrant, futuristic artwork tied in perfectly with this year’s theme, “The Future Starts With Us,” offering a creative and meaningful finale to the celebration.

In Donegal, separated children seeking international protection got together to celebrate by making pottery pieces and taking part in bead‑making and graffiti workshops. Young people in Donegal also contributed to larger, collaborative art piece, as well as young people living in special care.

EPIC’s Youth Council created two videos as part of a digital storytelling project for Care Day, responding to the questions “Things I Wish I Knew Before Turning 18” and “A Message to My Future Self.” Their reflections honest, tying into this year’s theme while focusing on what it truly means to enter adulthood after care, and what needs to change.

Care Day 2026 was marked in a variety of creative and meaningful ways. People shared messages and artwork online using #CareDay26, wrote the hashtag on their hands to show solidarity, and amplified care‑experienced voices across social media. Organisations and services also marked the day by running events and taking time to reflect on policies and practices affecting children and young people in care.

That sense of connection was shared more widely too, with strong engagement across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England, reflected in activity from our Care Day partners VOYPIC, Who Cares? Scotland, Voices from Care, and Become.