Kane on taking part in #GoneTooFar
Kane Wilton, 23, from Devon, describes the impact of being moved away from his twin sister, Sinead, and why he wanted to take part in our Gone Too Far campaign
“When I was 16, I was told I was being moved from the foster home where I was living, a farm near Kingsteignton in Devon, to supported living accommodation in Exmouth. I didn’t know why I was being moved, and didn’t even know Exmouth existed, I’d never heard of it. But worse than that was it took me two hours away from my twin sister Sinead where she lived in Buckfastleigh. My sister was everything to me and still is. I didn’t want to go because it was so far away, but I was told by my social worker if I didn’t take the place at the supported living I would be making myself homeless.
It took me a train and a bus ride to visit Sinead, which meant during the year I spent at the supported living I only managed to see her about once a month. I’ve always felt protective towards Sinead, and being far away from her was difficult. I couldn’t look out for her.
We went into care together when we were very young and had 23 moves before the age of four. We were moved a lot after that, between my dad and my gran, Devon and Skegness, and weren’t always together. I was always worried about her.
I took part in Become’s Gone Too Far Campaign, because I wanted to share my story to educate people, to prevent other young people from being moved away from the people they love.
⎯⎯ Kane
“I didn’t feel safe at the supported living accommodation. Other residents were involved in crime and drug-taking, which I know was a reaction to their trauma, but it meant I spent a lot of time in my room keeping to myself.
After a year I left and sofa surfed with friends, and ended up living with foster carers, which was worse than the supported living. They had cameras everywhere and wanted ¾ of my wages as well as for me to buy my own food, even though they were getting paid by the local authority. I was a bit closer to Sinead but I had so little money I had to do most of the journey on foot, which meant it took one and half hours.
I ended up moving back to the supported living, and stayed there until I was 18. I moved out on my 18th birthday, into a privately rented flat I live in now. I’m now married and have two children aged five and two.
I took part in Become’s Gone Too Far Campaign, because I wanted to share my story to educate people, to prevent other young people from being moved away from the people they love.
Going to the fortnightly campaign meetings gave me something to look forward to and helped me feel I was bringing about change. It was good to see the big reaction it got in the media and to know I was part of that.
Sinead and I are still close. She’s about to join the army and although I’m proud that she’s got in, I’ll miss her and will worry about her. I’m proud that we have that bond. We fought for it when we shouldn’t have had to. We were just kids, we were twins, and all we had was each other. That should have always come first.”
