Celebrating Care Experienced Week: Ty’s Story

For as long as she can remember, Ty has always loved singing. Ty lives in one of our Aberlour Children’s Houses and loves to sing and listen to music in her free time. It wasn’t until Ty came to live with us that she discovered the singer-songwriter, Fiaa Hamilton.

One of the house’s adults suggested that Ty should write to Fiaa. Like Ty, Fiaa also grew up in care and found that music played a massive part in her life. While she was growing up, music provided her with relief and comfort. Fiaa found fame through the BBC1 show Little Mix: The Search. Since then, she’s built a large following on social media and worked with several songwriters and producers. Now she hopes children like Ty, living in care, have a chance to develop their passion for music and singing.

Ty and Fiaa arranged to have a call to talk about their experiences in care. Adults that work with Ty said they had a great conversation together. Because of their similar stories, Ty could connect with Fiaa in a way that she had not been able to with an adult before. It meant a lot to Ty to have the chance to speak to someone with similar passions that she could also relate to.

Fiaa and Ty also spoke about their shared love of singing. Fiaa offered some tips and advice and said she would help Ty look for a singing tutor. She also worked with Ty to set a goal of learning 5-10 songs. This was so that when she starts working with the singing tutor, she’s prepared for them to work together.

“It made me feel really good to talk to Fiaa,” Ty told us. “I was nervous and excited at first, but as I spoke to her I relaxed and found out that she was like me when she was a little girl, loving singing. She also grew up in care. She understood what it was like to be me. I also got to learn some top-secret information about her new album too – which felt great.”

Ty hopes in the future she can keep in touch with Fiaa and work on her passion for singing. She says the singing tips from Fiaa inspired her to be a singer. Since their call, Ty’s already had some practice performing in front of a crowd. During Aberlour’s weekend residential “AbJam”, Ty performed in the Talent Show. This involved several young people sharing their talents with their peers. She sang two songs by her favourite band Little Mix. Ty said she was nervous at first, but it was an excellent experience for her to see her friends dancing and singing along. The team at Aberlour also managed to get Ty a karaoke machine to use in the house.

This week it’s Care Experienced eek – where we’re celebrating the stories of young people in care. Ty’s experience shows how important it is for young people to have positive role models. Particularly for young people in care who may not have anyone in their lives that can relate to them.

We understand how important it is for young people to build meaningful relationships. Part of this is creating space for young people like Ty to speak to others that understand them and share similar passions. Being there as a friend they can talk and connect with can go a long way. As we follow our commitment to “Keep The Promise”, we are listening to young people, helping them build friendships, and encouraging them to nurture their interests.