ARU Final Report

32 Care leavers’ experiences of support during the Covid-19 pandemic 4.3.1 Impact on connection and loneliness The questionnaire responses showed that feeling connectedwith friends and family decreased during the pandemic: 58.7% felt fairly or very connected before the pandemic, while only 32.6% felt fairly or very connected during the pandemic (see Graphs 7 and 8). Graph 7: How connected were you with friends and family before the pandemic? Number and percent of care leavers Not at all connected - 5 4 3 2 Very connected - 1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 3 (3.3%) 12 (13%) 23 (25%) 17 (18.5%) 37 (40.2%) Graph 8: How connected were you with friends and family during the pandemic? Number and percent of care leavers Not at all connected - 5 4 3 2 Very connected - 1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 10 (11.9%) 23 (25%) 29 (31.5%) 14 (15.2%) 16 (17.4%) Similarly, the Children’s Commissioner (2020) reported that ‘The Help at Hand’ advice line for care experienced children and care leavers saw two key themes during this time: distress relating to the sudden loss of contact with family, and the social isolation of care leavers. In particular, care leavers were worried about being able to pay bills and get food during lockdown, the effect of loneliness and isolation on their mental health, and not receiving any help if they contracted Covid-19 and got seriously ill. Although they appreciated virtual or phone contact with family and friends during lockdown, young people also commented that it could not replace face-to-face contact (Roberts et al., 2020). Most children and young people described virtual contact with their family as ‘difficult’ and reported sadness due to missing their siblings and parents (Essex Involvement Team, 2020). It is worth noting that in the current research, just over half of respondents felt connected before the pandemic, reflecting how the pandemic has