The Daily Telegraph

Non-judgmental series finds hope in stories of kids in care

- Anita Singh

‘There are more young people in the care system than ever before, but they’re rarely seen and rarely heard. This series wants to change that.” The words of film-maker Paddy Wivell at the start of Kids (Channel 4), his compassion­ate threepart documentar­y series following teenagers who have spent a significan­t part of their lives in foster families or children’s homes. He succeeds, brilliantl­y, in giving them a voice.

I tuned in reluctantl­y, expecting it to be depressing and bleak. Yet the Baftawinni­ng Wivell has found hope in every case, as well as sadness, building a rapport with his subjects and handling their stories with care. He offers no judgment, only understand­ing.

You could reduce these kids to labels if you didn’t get to know them. Xorin was dealing heroin and crack at 14; Annabelle was pregnant at 18; 17-yearold Bayley was placed in her own flat, only to cause thousands of pounds’ worth of damage and become a nuisance to the neighbours.

But what Kids so effectivel­y shows is that these children were victims of circumstan­ce. They had been born to parents ill-equipped to look after them – some could offer love but chaos, some were abusive, others were either ignorant of their failings or in denial. In the third episode we meet a sweetnatur­ed young man named Kane who

had been removed from his home as a little boy and requested access to his files to find out why. Heartbreak­ingly, he struggles to comprehend the truth. “It says here that my dad was hitting me,” he said. “But why would he do that?”

All of the cases are from Coventry, and we meet the social workers assigned to each teenager. In some cases, their work seemed to be box-ticking – Xorin’s mother, whose two sons were removed from her care, being asked to rate her parenting skills out of 10 (“Tell you what, say 10-anda-half ”) – but in the case of Bayley, a team worked their hardest to help her. Is it any wonder that she caused trouble after being moved from the community and relative security of a children’s home to try living alone in a flat, aged just 17? As pointed out here, most young people stay living at home into their 20s, yet we expect these vulnerable children to suddenly fend for themselves from their 18th birthday.

There are moments of humour and, occasional­ly, moments to gladden the heart. A remarkable 16-year-old named Havana had asked to be put into care and is now living independen­tly, finding a new family in the local drag community. Annabelle gave birth to a baby boy and promised to bring him up with all the love and stability that she had been denied.

Before we get to the result, let’s just pay a little tribute to the real stars of BBC One’s Race Across the World: Canadians. Does this nation have the world’s most helpful people? Everywhere that the contestant­s went, Canadians were on hand to offer free lifts, free food, free bed and board, free life advice. “Need a ride to somewhere 350km away? No problem!” “This hostel is full? Come back and stay at my house!” This series is surely worth its weight in gold to the Canadian tourist board.

And so to the final leg of the race. Usually, in shows of this type, I have my favourites. But here I would have been happy for any of the three remaining couples to win: best friends Tricia and Cathie, married couple Zainib and Mobeen, or father and daughter Ladi and Monique. All were very likeable. They also just got on with it and rarely moaned, unlike Claudia and Kevin, who dropped out last week after using up their budget on taxis and Montreal’s most expensive hotel room.

Everyone had issues to deal with, some large and some small. Zainab and Mobeen were a strong couple dealing with the sadness of infertilit­y. By a twist of fate, they were given a lift by a middle-aged man who revealed that he had been adopted as a child, and had only positive things to say about it. “Maybe you were supposed to run into me, huh?” he asked.

“It’s just frustratin­g when you’re up against three other competitor­s that can run like gazelles, and we’re the old ladies of the group,” said Tricia (who is 48, mind you, not 88) in a previous episode. But guess what? They did it, and their delight upon opening the book and realising they were in first place was a joy to watch.

This series hasn’t been perfect. Far too much of it involved people standing around in service stations touting for lifts, and then sitting in cars. But it is such a wholesome series, featuring contestant­s who are genuinely here for the adventure – contrast it with the ghastlines­s of something like Love Island – that we should welcome it back next year. Any suggestion­s for countries as friendly as Canada?

Kids ★★★★★

Race Across the World ★★★★

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 ?? ?? Paddy Wivell’s documentar­y series meets teenagers such as 19-year-old Annabelle
Paddy Wivell’s documentar­y series meets teenagers such as 19-year-old Annabelle

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