Voice of Young People in Care

What Voice of Young People in Care does

Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC) is a registered charity founded in 1993 and headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland, dedicated to advocating for children and young people with lived experience of care. The organization delivers an Independent Advocacy Service alongside participation programmes (notably the Leading Change Youth Leadership Programme), public campaigns (Language of Care, Show Us You Care), multimedia educational resources (See Me), and an annual Care Day event with associated awards. It operates four regional offices across Northern Ireland — Belfast, Ballymena, Derry-Londonderry, and Lurgan — serving as the dedicated voice for care-experienced young people in the jurisdiction.

VOYPIC operates a non-profit funding model. All services are provided free of charge to beneficiaries, with income derived primarily from government and charitable grants — including the Department of Health Northern Ireland and The National Lottery Community Fund — alongside public donations. The £500K, three-year National Lottery award secured in June 2026 funds the Link Up project, which extends VOYPIC's remit to unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people in care and represents the most significant recent programmatic addition. VOYPIC is also a member of the 10 is Too Young Coalition advocating to raise Northern Ireland's minimum age of criminal responsibility.

The organization's underlying technology footprint is intentionally limited: the core stack consists of a content website (voypic.org), an online advocacy referral portal (voypic-referrals.caseworkerconnectonline.org), and standard social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube). VOYPIC co-founded VIable Corporate Services with Include Youth in 2015, a social enterprise providing shared HR, finance, and training services to both charities and generating profits that fund their social missions. International collaboration exists via the Houses of Empathy European partnership (Portugal, Ireland, Spain), aimed at preventing bullying in children's homes.

Name

Voice of Young People in Care

Legal name

Voice of Young People in Care

Website

https://voypic.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC) is a Belfast-based charity founded in 1993 that delivers independent advocacy, youth leadership programmes, and participation services for children and young people with lived experience of care across Northern Ireland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Advocacy Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGADAO

Youth Housing, Foster Care & Wraparound Support (Education-Linked) Nonprofits

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Education & Youth Development Nonprofits

Keywords

• Youth advocacy services
• Children care support
• Independent advocacy
• Youth participation programs
• Care-experienced charity

Headquarters

HQ city

Belfast

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable Grants and Funding: VOYPIC operates as a registered charity funded in part by government bodies and charitable foundations including the Department of Health Northern Ireland, The National Lottery Community Fund, and other grant-making organizations. The organization also receives donations from the public.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

VOYPIC delivers an Independent Advocacy Service that supports children and young people in and leaving care in Northern Ireland to have their voices heard, understand their rights, and participate in decisions affecting their lives. This is complemented by youth participation and leadership programmes, multimedia educational resources, policy campaigns, and specialised projects (such as Link Up for unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people and the European Houses of Empathy anti-bullying initiative), all provided at no cost to beneficiaries.

Product overview

VOYPIC operates as a single integrated service model rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The organisation provides a unified advocacy and participation service for children and young people with lived experience of care in Northern Ireland, combining its Independent Advocacy Service as the core offering with youth engagement programmes including the Leading Change Youth Leadership Programme, See Me multimedia educational resources, the Language of Care campaign, and Show Us You Care initiative. Specialised projects include Link Up for asylum-seeking young people and the European Houses of Empathy anti-bullying programme. These services are delivered alongside annual events such as Care Day and the Care Day Awards, all unified under VOYPIC's charitable mission to ensure young people in care are heard, supported, and empowered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Independent Advocacy Service Core advocacy service providing children and young people in and leaving care in Northern Ireland with support to have their voices heard, understand their rights, and participate in decisions affecting their lives.
• Youth Leadership Programme (Leading Change) Regional project for care-experienced young people aged 14+ providing leadership training leading to OCN accreditation, developing leadership skills, self-awareness, confidence, and self-esteem.
• See Me Multimedia resource created by young people raising awareness of issues impacting care-experienced young people for those working in education, including video shorts and a guide for teachers.
• Language of Care Campaign focused on changing the language used to talk about care and children in care, addressing how terminology can make care-experienced young people feel uncomfortable and different.
• Show Us You Care Call to action campaign for children and young people with lived experience of care.
• Link Up Project supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people in care across Northern Ireland, delivering life skills, OCN qualifications, community partnerships, and digital content creation opportunities over three years.
• Houses of Empathy European partnership project with Portugal's Par – Respostas Sociais, Ireland's Sticks and Stones, and Spain's Asociación Hechos aimed at preventing bullying behaviour in children's homes, producing anti-bullying resources and best practice guides.
• Care Day Global annual celebration of children and young people with experience of being in care, held annually on the third Friday of February, first taking place in 2016 across Ireland and the UK.

Quantifiable outcome

• Care Day Awards celebrating achievements of care-experienced young people

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Include YouthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Include Youth co-founded VIable Corporate Services with VOYPIC in 2015 as a social enterprise to support the back office needs of both charities. VIable provides HR, financial support, and training services while generating profits that support the social causes of both organizations.
• VIable Corporate ServicescoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSocial enterprise established by VOYPIC and Include Youth in 2015 to provide essential HR and financial support, training and development services to clients across Northern Ireland's third and private sectors. Profits drive social causes championed by VOYPIC and Include Youth.
• Par - Respostas Sociais (Portugal)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership for the Houses of Empathy project aimed at preventing bullying behaviour in children's homes
• Sticks and Stones (Ireland)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership for the Houses of Empathy project aimed at preventing bullying behaviour in children's homes
• Asociación Hechos (Spain)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership for the Houses of Empathy project aimed at preventing bullying behaviour in children's homes
• 10 is Too Young CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition including Children in Northern Ireland (CiNI), Children's Law Centre, Include Youth, Niacro, NICCY, and VOYPIC advocating to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Northern Ireland from 10 to 16

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/VOYPIC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/voypic
• Facebookfacebook.com/voiceofyoungpeopleincare
• Instagraminstagram.com/voypic/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Voice of Young People in Care