Culture, Identity and Safety: Why the Project Esperanza Culture Connections Kit Matters

Across Scotland, professionals working in social work, education, and health increasingly recognise that safeguarding children is not only about physical protection. It is also about identity, belonging, dignity, and cultural safety. For many racialised young people entering the care system, these needs are often overlooked, with safeguarding systems historically designed without the experiences of racialised communities at the centre.

The Culture Connections Kit and the Project Esperanza Charter for Racialised Communities were created to respond to this gap. Developed by Project Esperanza, these initiatives provide practical and values-driven tools that support the culture, heritage, and identity of racialised children and young people involved in child protection or the care system.

Project Esperanza recommends that public services, local authorities, and care providers purchase and use the Culture Connections Kit as part of their work with Black and multi-ethnic care-experienced young people. When these resources are available, professionals are better equipped to deliver culturally competent care.

Both the Culture Connections Kit and the Project Esperanza Charter are grounded in key frameworks that shape child protection and children’s rights in Scotland, including United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) and The Promise Scotland.

The Culture Connections Kit: Supporting Identity in Care

The kit contains culturally relevant items that support personal care, hair care, heritage, and cultural diet. These resources reflect the diverse backgrounds of racialised children and acknowledge that identity is expressed in everyday practices—how young people care for their hair, what food connects them to their culture, and the heritage materials that affirm who they are.

It promotes safeguarding that:

• is culturally responsive – recognising cultural identity as part of wellbeing. When young people see their culture reflected in care settings, they are reminded that their identity is valued rather than erased.
• is culturally safe – ensuring children are protected from racism and discrimination.
• is community-informed – reflecting the voices of racialised young people. Young people themselves contributed to its development because they recognised something important: when racialised children enter the care system, they often lose access to the everyday cultural resources that support their identity.
• Supports emotional wellbeing – hair care, cultural food knowledge, and heritage materials may appear simple, but they play an important role in self-esteem and psychological stability.
• Reduces isolation – many racialised children in care are placed in environments where few people share their cultural background. The kit provides tangible connections to heritage.
• Builds trust with professionals – when practitioners acknowledge and support culture, children are more likely to feel understood and safe.

Children involved in child protection processes often experience significant stress, uncertainty, and trauma. For racialised children, these experiences can be compounded by racism, cultural isolation, and a lack of culturally appropriate support. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children often arrive in Scotland having experienced conflict, displacement, or loss and cultural identity can be one of the few remaining anchors of stability.

The Culture Connections Kit and Charter provide practical tools, recognising that culturally responsive care is essential to children’s safety, wellbeing, and rights.

These resources also help organisations move from intention to action when it comes to anti-racist practice, highlighting the everyday cultural needs that systems often overlook.

Supporting Families Through the Child Protection Journey

The journey through child protection—from referral to potential registration—can be overwhelming for families. For racialised families, additional barriers can include language, cultural misunderstanding, and fear of systems that may already feel unequal.

The Project Esperanza Charter helps address this by setting clear expectations around issues including, culturally respectful communication, recognition of cultural parenting practices, transparency about processes and promoting meaningful participation of children and families. By embedding these principles, services can reduce mistrust and create more collaborative safeguarding relationships.

Culture Connections Youth Hub: A Safe Space for Identity and Creativity

Alongside these tools, Project Esperanza’s Culture Connections Youth Hub in North Edinburgh offers a space where young people of global majority heritage and their peers can explore identity in a supportive environment. The hub provides a busy programme, including culturally relevant creative activities, identity-affirming art and storytelling, confidence building programmes and therapeutic and culturally safe spaces for expression. Through these initiatives, young people can strengthen their sense of belonging and community.

Learn More or Get Involved

Organisations interested in strengthening culturally responsive safeguarding can engage with Project Esperanza in several ways.

To purchase the Culture Connections Kit, refer a young person to the Culture Connections Youth Hub, or enquire about the Project Esperanza Charter for Racialised Communities, please contact:
cultureconnections@projectesperanza.org.uk