Podcast Season 4: Episode 2 – The role of technology in capturing the stories of care-experienced children

Please note that this transcript is auto-generated and therefore will contain some errors and natural pauses in conversation.

[00:00:00] DAWN: Welcome to the Creative Life Story Work podcast, where we explore how to make life story work better for all care experienced children and young people. Creative Life Story Work is an approach which can improve children and young people’s lives and their relationships with others, both at school It’s based on the ROSE model of therapeutic life story work.

[00:00:36] Every month, we’ll explore a different aspect of creative life story work and we’ll give insights into how you can use this approach to help care experienced children and young people make sense of their past and build a brighter future. Today, we are focusing on how technology is being used to support life story work and I’m Absolutely delighted to welcome to our podcast studio, Christian Brock, who’s co founder and managing director of Virtual Memory Box, which we are going to hear all about today.

[00:01:12] Welcome Christian. Welcome. How lovely to have you here.

[00:01:15] CHRISTIAN: Thanks for having me Dawn. I really appreciate you inviting me to have a chat with you today.

[00:01:18] DAWN: You’re very, very welcome. We’ve had lots of people on our podcasts, but we’ve never had anybody. With a technology and digital background. And I’m really interested just to find out a bit more about you and your background and how you came to be developing and leading on virtual memory box.

[00:01:40] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, no worries. So I think if, if I just. Look at what myself, so my background is within digital technology agencies. So helping build things like websites, web applications, mobile applications, immersive reality projects for charities, third sector for, for, for companies. And really that led me into opening up my own consultancy.

[00:02:08] And I started working with kind of software developers around the UK. And, and that’s how I met my, my co founders, which are Nick and Dylan. And, and that’s really how we, we, we managed to kind of get with this brilliant opportunity, which is, which is to kind of take virtual memory box to all these children and young people across the UK.

[00:02:29] DAWN: So do you want to explain a bit more about how Virtual Memory Box works, what it is, and maybe some of the key features that children and the adults in their lives can use.

[00:02:42] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, cool. So why don’t I set the scene for you as well? So set the scene.

[00:02:46] DAWN: That will be the thing to do.

[00:02:47] CHRISTIAN: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, so basically what happened is, is that Virtual Memory Box was built off a, a kind of a big piece of research that was done in that found that kids.

[00:02:57] care experienced adults were returning back to local authorities, um, with, with huge gaps basically in their, their knowledge of their time in care. You know, the ones that kind of had had physical memories along the way, often by the time they came to the age where they cared about it, had been kind of lost, stolen or damaged.

[00:03:16] So South Tyneside Council, alongside with us, managed to secure some funding by the Department for Education and. With that funding set about building Virtual Memory Box. So Virtual Memory Box was co produced alongside South Tyneside Council. So it was built alongside their children, their young people, their carers, their social workers, their IROs, their team managers, their family time workers.

[00:03:43] Basically, you know, everyone who has a touch point with a child or young person went through a period where we sat down with them and we asked them kind of all the different questions that we needed to work out what they needed from Virtual Memory Box. One of the first things that came quite apparent was that it needed to be a web platform.

[00:04:04] It needed to be a web portal. When you kind of think about the amount of users and the variation of users that we have, you know, we have kind of like three year olds all the way up to kind of self contained. Fest technophobes in their seventies and eighties that are carers. And we also have a range of users like send users that use things like screen readers.

[00:04:25] So although using things like mobile apps are great, trying to navigate things like app stores just wasn’t appropriate and it didn’t fit for the types of users we’ve got. So first and foremost, it’s a web portal and So that web portal is what you would call a SaaS model, you know, in, in our kind of language, which is software as a service.

[00:04:45] So that means that local authorities sign up to it and all of their different staff and users can, can, can access it. So if you look at it in terms of a web portal, basically, we’ve got lots of different features that sit within there. You’re kind of your first thing, you know, at its most basic level, it does what it says, it’s a virtual memory box.

[00:05:05] It helps save photos, videos. documents and voice recordings. So, you know, you can imagine, you know, photos of birthday parties, you know, of the houses that they live in, of their bedrooms, of their favourite toys, you know, videos allows us to kind of go that little step on, which is, you know, it can be for younger ones, like first steps, it can be learning how to ride a bike, you know, it can be, you know, You know, at gymnastics, it brings in this whole range of being able to kind of see that child in that moment.

[00:05:43] With the documents, it allows us to say things like certificates, you know, you can upload paintings, things like that. And then I think with the voice notes, it allows you to kind of go that little bit deeper. So it allows people to kind of Leave notes if that’s a social worker or a carer and you know when you kind of write in sometimes It’s quite hard to convey your emotions But as soon as you sit on and record your voice, you can really hear all of that passion and you know hopefully that love that sits behind that for that child and young person and Just to kind of get that job that memory of hearing their voice again and getting that feeling.

[00:06:20] It’s a really brilliant thing

[00:06:21] DAWN: I imagine that’s just so lovely. I’m imagining I don’t know, a day at the beach and then being able to say, rather than just even look at the photograph, a little voice note to say, yeah, and your favorite, your favorite flavor was strawberries and ice cream or whatever it was, it would be a really, it’s a way of pinning a memory, isn’t it, to a very specific time.

[00:06:43] Yeah. Whenever they go back to look at it, isn’t it interesting that it was a local authority, South Tyneside, who co produced or that you worked in partnership with in the development of the virtual memory box, because that’s so aligned to the Blue Cabin story of developing creative life story work. And it was the same local authority, you know, can we work alongside you to develop something around that?

[00:07:12] life story work, but using creative processes because we have an inkling that that might work. And so that was the beginning of a partnership. It’s just that strategic partnership and what that can do to develop a new concept, I suppose, as well. That’s really interesting. A hundred percent.

[00:07:28] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, and, you know, they’re a really innovative council, you know, to, to take on something like this for many local authority would be quite a big gamble.

[00:07:37] So we were really lucky to, that, that they chose us as their partner, you know, and kind of give us, give us, their blessing that we could use them as a founding partner and take that forward to other local authorities across the UK.

[00:07:51] DAWN: Yeah. So developing a model where you learn and do feedback loops and test and test and test.

[00:07:57] And then that’s just that growing all the time, isn’t it? Yeah. So similar to the model of creative life story work at Blue Cabin, but completely different spheres in which we’re working as well. It’s so interesting. You’ve mentioned some of the adults there, foster carers, social workers. Or maybe it’s even some biological parents.

[00:08:17] Do they all have a role to play in adding to the virtual memory box?

[00:08:23] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, yeah. So you’ve, you’ve got all of these kind of adults and professionals that sit alongside this child. And when you think of the little moments that maybe they’re capturing. If they didn’t have a centralized place to do this, it would be really fragmented.

[00:08:38] You know, you’ve got multiple devices, multiple people. What Virtual Memory Box allows them to do is to access through permissions with the, with the child’s memory box. So, a supervising social worker, when they’re introducing, Virtual memory box to that child will sit down alongside them and say we have four permission types that we can give this adult or professional within your virtual memory box And those those permissions are that Firstly, that they could view.

[00:09:08] Second, they can view and comment. Third, they can view, comment, and add. And then fourth, that they can add only. And with this kind of range of permissions, what it allows you to do is have all these different people that maybe play different or, you know, bigger or small parts in this child’s or young person’s life.

[00:09:25] And they can choose the right permission type. So, if we think in terms of just viewing the child’s memory box, you know, for an IRO, that might be the most appropriate thing for them. But we also know that it’s not a, you know, it’s not a typical thing where we can just assign permissions for roles.

[00:09:43] Actually, some children and young people have very close working relationships with the IROs and they might want them to comment on there. If you think in terms of a, let’s say a family time worker, you know, they might be just coming on to the platform just to kind of add content on there so we can, we can navigate it through there.

[00:10:03] And You know, with a, with a foster carer, they can have that full suite of being able to view the memories that are on there, comment and upload memories themselves. But then when it comes into birth families, you know, if, if it’s, if it’s right, what they can do is they, they may be able to see them other permissions, you know, it might be the right thing for them.

[00:10:22] But what we could also do is just allow them to contribute. But not be able to kind of see the child’s memory box. So, you know, they can kind of backdate what would be family photos, you know, add some kind of story behind it and have a way in which they can upload that to the child’s memory box, but not be able to kind of see the child’s memory box or any of the comments and things back and forth that are on there.

[00:10:44] DAWN: So it’s a hugely nuanced application. Yeah. That’s mapped against the complexity of relationships that each child might be holding with the different adults in, in their lives.

[00:10:55] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, there was, there was a bit of naivety on our side at the start where we tried to kind of look at set permission types for different people.

[00:11:03] And then we started to realise, well, actually, they’ve got such nuanced relationships, exactly what you said, with all these adults and, and, and this allows them to kind of navigate those.

[00:11:14] DAWN: And as a child might move to, maybe it’s a different house that they’re living in or a different, or I’m thinking about older young people as they move into their own houses.

[00:11:29] Are there measures in place so that those memories are still accessible as the child might move or just get older? How do, cause I’m imagining, I’m trying to imagine what that That must be like, as well.

[00:11:41] CHRISTIAN: So, so the memory box belongs to that child and young person. And from, from Virtual Memory Box, from our company, the local authority owns all of that data, that sits within there.

[00:11:53] The local authority can hold that data until that adult is 25, under public task. So, the child and young person can access Virtual Memory Box up to the age of 25 years old. So regardless of whether they’re in care for that for their entire time, or whether they’re just in once for a small period of time, or whether they’re in and then they leave and then they come back, Virtual Memory Box will always be there for them.

[00:12:21] At the age of 25, when they were to leave, what they can do is they can get a basically a download of those memories onto kind of a removable. Drive a pen drive sitting within there is a really clever thing where we’ve they can they can open up a little HTML file and it opens up virtual memory box and it uses the files that were in there to look and feel just like the Same again

[00:12:44] DAWN: Let’s go to a short break so that listeners can hear more about Blue Cabin’s Creative Life Storywork membership offer.

[00:12:53] TRAILER: We want people to gain more of an understanding about what it’s like to be care experienced and to have a better understanding of what it actually means. Could Creative Life Storywork make a difference to the care experienced children and young people you work with? Maybe you’re a social worker. I think we forget at our peril that actually telling a child the story of their early life is one of the most profound uses of social work power that we could ever operate.

[00:13:23] Perhaps you’re a foster carer. You know, when they say it’s all about the child, it’s not because our experiences, it’s about the carer and the child and it just gives a new angle to our relationship because we’re learning about each other together. A creative life story work membership will give you or your whole team access to resources.

[00:13:44] Including activities you can use in direct work with children and young people, training with life story work experts, and lots more. And I think a lot of our children are looking for meaning, looking for, you know, well why is it I feel this way when my, you know, my friends don’t? Why is it I get angry internally?

[00:14:02] and my friends don’t. The greatest thing we see is when we are able to say to young people, this is your story, this is about who you are. And then children towards the end say, it’s not my fault that these things happened, but it is something that I can do something about. And once we have that, then we know we can move forward.

[00:14:18] Find out about our membership for individuals and for organizations on our website, creativelifestorywork. com.

[00:14:28] DAWN: What’s been the most rewarding part? of seeing Virtual Memory Box being used by children in care?

[00:14:36] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, I mean, just from kind of my perspective, you know, I was working as, you know, I had my kind of own consultancy when I came across this, and, you know, I instantly fell in love with Virtual Memory Box.

[00:14:48] You know, there was a story of a child, of a young boy who, during a move, They’d lost their father, unfortunately, and they’d lost the only photo that they had of their father during this move process. Now, when, when I was younger, you know, when I was a young person, I lost my father as well to, to cancer.

[00:15:07] And, you know, just hearing that story was devastating. And, you know, I sat down and I sat with South Tyneside Council and with the, you know, founders who built it and said, we have to take this to other local authorities. You know, and I remember thinking, right, I’m going to have to go and have a conversation with my wife and say, I want to kind of just go on all in on this.

[00:15:29] And, you know, this is going to be quite tough to do financially for us, you know, thinking she’s the sensible one and she heard, and she just said, she said, you have to do this, you know, and that’s the same with the whole team. You know, we really kick the sheets off in the morning to get into work, you know, to be able to make a difference means a hell of a lot to us.

[00:15:47] DAWN: So professionally and personally, it’s, the investment is huge. Is is huge on the, the massively the virtual memory box team. Massive.

[00:15:57] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, massively. So, you know, and we’re all really aligned on this, you know, to, to get an opportunity, you know, and I know that using the word the most vulnerable in society, you know, it’s not, it’s some, some children and young people don’t like that, but you know, they, they are.

[00:16:13] And, and, and we really do want to help and to get the opportunity to do that and to work alongside lots of other professionals. that have had a lifelong fight to do this is just such an honor, really.

[00:16:26] DAWN: Have you, or are you able to share any feedback or stories from some of the children or adults who’ve been using the tool and how it’s impacted on them?

[00:16:38] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, so like, you know, you look at some of them, So we, you know, we’ve, we’ve got a, a couple that are in red car and Cleveland and, you know, they are, they’re uploading something like seven to eight hundred memories a month into the children and young people’s. So like, you know, and the level of detail that these people go to is incredible.

[00:17:00] You know, you talk about breaking down a scene. in a cinematic way and looking at all the different elements that sit there. It’s just it’s amazing. So, you know, you kind of see these Children and young people that are that are having what what no one really will have, which is just this really detailed view of their child, their childhood.

[00:17:23] It’s amazing, and you know, so we’re just starting to work as well with kind of trying to get the voice of, of, of care leavers and care experienced adults that don’t have, that haven’t had this before previously. Um, so we’re working, um, with care leavers that are within central government at the minute.

[00:17:43] So we’re going to be doing kind of a big presentation to them and getting their feedback, but we’ve been having really positive feedback from ones that say that, you know, they, they just They just don’t have any of this at the minute and, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s a travesty really because, you know, when you think they’re in crisis and everyone’s just trying to make sure that in that moment, they’re okay, but no one’s thinking of the future.

[00:18:06] When the future comes, it’s almost too late.

[00:18:08] DAWN: And just thinking about the future, I’m just wondering how you see the role of digital and technology evolving in the care system so that children’s stories are stored safely, preserved so that they have access to them as they grow older?

[00:18:28] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, I think, you know, Certainly, Virtual Memory Box is playing a big role within that.

[00:18:34] When you think of, you know, they say digital disruption, you know, of, of, of innovation, the child services is absolutely prime for it. You know, there’s obviously been ones before that come within case management, but I think this ability to tap into the village, you know, this, this, this ability for all of these people that would normally be fragmented to centralise that is, is such a powerful thing.

[00:19:01] So I think, I think, you know, that can only bring benefits and pluses. But I think also It can’t take over. It has to augment, you know, I think with it’s a tool for life story work. It’s not a replacement for life story work. And also physical memories are just so important to keep alongside this, you know, you still got to have that box that’s at the bottom of a drawer that you’re collecting all those artifacts.

[00:19:25] This is just for the stuff that’s done digitally now.

[00:19:28] DAWN: After all your development, what advice would you have for other tech entrepreneurs looking to create meaningful tools to support communities, especially children in care?

[00:19:41] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, I think you have to do it alongside teams. I think, you know, it was the perfect storm with us.

[00:19:48] came from a very specialized technology and product background on the people. We built it alongside with very experienced within child services. I don’t think you can look from the outside looking in and try to work out what the right thing is to innovate with. I think that it has to be a partnership.

[00:20:06] So co production is so important. If you’ve spotted an opportunity that you think might warrant a digital product to help, you know, make it better, you have to get validation. And that means partnering with children’s services teams and professionals that know what that is.

[00:20:23] DAWN: Partnering and testing things out and

[00:20:27] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, fail forward.

[00:20:28] Adaption,

[00:20:29] DAWN: fail forward. I’m writing that down. This is it. And finally, my last question is for anybody listening, whether they’re foster carer, social workers, or just a supporter of a child who might want to have a look at virtual memory box or start to use it. How can they engage with it? Where can, where can they find it?

[00:20:54] CHRISTIAN: Yeah, so they can, they can have a look on our website, which is virtualmemorybox. org, and they can have a look around the website, see what we’re about, you know, see some of the quotes from people who we’re working with. But primarily, it would be to speak to you, you know, to get the message up through your supervising social workers, to team workers, to heads of service, to director of children’s services, to, to, to kind of pass on the message.

[00:21:18] You know, virtual memory boxes here. It’s not a pilot. It’s very, very, very affordable to use. And, you know, it’s in terms of in terms of getting a demo, all they’ve got to do is reach out to myself or one of the other team, and we can organize that.

[00:21:37] DAWN: That’s fantastic. Christian, thanks so much for your time today.

[00:21:40] Thanks for coming on and talking about Virtual Memory Box. And again, the thing we didn’t say was that we’re both in the northeast. Marvellous. Yes, we are. Incredible as though. Both working with South Tyneside, both in the northeast. So many connections. Both from the northwest. Oh yeah, we’re both from the Northwest originally, another connection.

[00:22:00] Thank you very much. I’ve really enjoyed talking about you today and good luck with more digital innovations around virtual memory box. Can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. Thank you very much.

[00:22:10] CHRISTIAN: Thank you Dawn.

[00:22:11] DAWN: Whether you’re a foster carer, someone who has experience with the care system, Or you work with children and young people.

[00:22:18] We hope this episode has given you an insight into how we can make life story work better for young people and how you can use it in your own practice. You can find out more about creative life story work on our website, creative life story, work. com. And you can find us on LinkedIn and X at creative LSW.

[00:22:39] Please do get in touch there with any comments or questions as we’d really love to hear from you. If your podcast app allows you to please do leave us a review as it really helps others to find our show. So until next month, bye for now!