Our #GoneTooFar campaign
Keeping children in care close to the people and places that matter
Our #GoneTooFar campaign
Keeping children in care close to the people and places that matter
Too many children in care are moved far from their home area. Let's fix this.
“When young people are suddenly thrown into an area they don’t know and have to start a new life away from their family and friends and even people that look like them, it is extremely difficult.”
⎯⎯ Jade
Thousands of children in care have been moved far away from the people and places that matter to them.
All children need and deserve the same things to thrive: a loving home, a stable support network and access to the community that helps them feel like they belong. But children in care rarely get this because they are moved far away from the people and places that matter to them. This is despite obligations on local authorities to provide homes for children in care in the local area.
There are almost 18,000 children in care in England living more than 20 miles from their home area. This represents 1 in 5 children in care. Some children have moved more than 500 miles. The number of children experiencing far away moves, is rising year on year.
We know this is having a harmful impact on children’s lives and their futures. Being moved far away can disrupt a child’s education, their mental health, their relationships – including with brothers and sisters who might live elsewhere. Young people have told us that moving makes them feel lonely, isolated, and even more stigmatised. They say that they have little or no choice in where they live.
This problem needs solving right away. Our campaign, Gone Too Far, fights to keep children close to the people and places that matter to them.
Banner drop and petition hand in
Banner drop and petition hand in
In December 2025, Lamar, Kevin, Louise and Georgia, from our #GoneTooFar campaign group, handed in our petition at 10 Downing Street. Our petition calls on the Government to keep children in care close to the people and places that matter. That same day, together we dropped a banner over Westminster Bridge.
For over two years, we’ve been fighting to keep children close to the people and places that matter to them. It’s time for change.
A massive thanks to everyone who signed the petition.
Watch our young campaigners ask the public how they would feel if they were suddenly moved far away from their support network.
We’re calling on the Government for:
- A national commitment to stop children being placed miles from their home area when it is not in their best interests.
- The development and publication of national and local strategies to increase the provision of care placements closer to home, so that children don’t have to be moved miles from their support networks.
- New data collection and reporting on the numbers of children who are inappropriately moved miles from home.
- Increased accountability for national Government and local authorities.
Latest campaign news
June 2025: We launched our Moved During Exams report, co-produced with Gone Too Far members who interviewed care-experienced young people across England. Jess and Charlotte appeared on BBC Breakfast to share their stories and call for change.
July 2025: The Education Select Committee published its report, How to fix children’s social care and restore care leavers’ life chances. Gone Too Far campaigner Lamar spoke on BBC Breakfast about her experience in care and what it meant to give evidence to Parliament.
November 2025: We launched our Good Practice report, with Gone Too Far campaigner and our Director of Policy, Campaign and Comms, Clare Bracey, on BBC Breakfast to talk about it.
December 2025: Our campaign stunt dropping a banner off of Westminster Bridge with our campaigners and we delivered our petition to 10 Downing Street.
Over 1 in 5
children in care in England are living more than 20 miles away from home, rising to 4 in 5 for children in secure settings
2.5x more likely
to be living far away for children in private children’s homes
3,000
more children living further than 20 miles since 2018, rising every year
Campaign reports
Campaign reports
How Being Moved Far Away Puts Care-Experienced Girls at Risk
Young people told us that their safety had been put at risk because of these moves. Some were moved due to the risk or experience of exploitation and harm. Others experienced these risks and harms after they were moved. Distance does not guarantee safety from ongoing exploitation and was sometimes felt to be one of the causes.
Still Too Far
Our 2024 research and analysis shows:
- There are almost 18,000 children in care in England living more than 20 miles from home, representing 1 in 5 children in care.
- The number has increased by more than 3,000 since 2018, rising every year.
- Children in care are now living further away, on average, than they were a year ago.
- Children placed in private children’s homes are 2.5 times more likely to be living far away.
Moved During Exams
Our 2025 research shows that shockingly high numbers of children in care are being moved during GCSEs and A-levels:
- An alarming level of disruption during exam periods.
- 15,134 children in care (34%) moved homes during Years 10-13.
- Nearly one in ten (9%) children in care were moved more than 20 miles in years 12 and 13.
Good Practice
Our 2025 report on insights from local authorities across England on good practice for keeping children in care close to home.
“Being moved far away made my time in care so much more difficult than it should have been […] To hear local authorities making real efforts to stop doing this to children is good to know. Being moved far away has to stop.” – Lamar, a care-experienced campaigner.
This is disrupting the lives of young people
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