Free Loaves on Friday, an anthology of poems, letters, and other forms of writing written by more than 100 care-experienced people with contributions from local charity the Together Trust, will be published this Thursday 18 April.
The anthology’s 100 contributors include authors with diverse experiences of the care system aged 13-68 years old. The book features well-known writers such as Lemn Sissay, Sally Bayley, and Kirsty Capes, alongside those being published for the very first time.
Several young people supported by the Together Trust charity were involved in one section within the book – the A-Z of allyship - and the anthology was edited by one of the charity’s Trustees, Rebekah Pierre. Rebekah is a writer, social worker, and campaigner who works to raise the voices of the unheard. Profits from the book going towards both the Together Trust and fellow charity Article 39.
“Free Loaves on Fridays is the book I wish I saw on bookshelves when I was in care. And the book I wish my teachers, classmates and the general public read, too,” says Rebekah Pierre.
“To know future generations of children and adults from care will see themselves represented in mainstream bookshops means everything.”
Department for Education data shows 81,000 children were in care across England in March and 1,371 were in Manchester – above the national average. Challenging stereotypes of people with care experience, this collection gives voice to just some of these diverse experiences including foster care, adoption, kinship care and semi-independent living.
The anthology is available for pre-sale here: https://unbound.com/books/free-loaves-on-fridays