Care experience campaigner leaves lasting legacy

Ian spent his whole life caring for others and influencing change for the better: from his time as a residential social worker, through senior management and his role as an Ofsted inspector. His drive for improvement never diminished and continued throughout his retirement.

Ian was highly principled and uncompromising – he himself would say he was blunt and could be stubborn. You knew exactly where you stood with him, but his integrity meant that even when he disagreed, he respected other people's perspectives.

• Tributes paid to former social worker and care leaver Ian Dickson

When Ian was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2020 and Covid shielding meant he could no longer see people face-to-face, his influence only grew though social media. He was a prodigious tweeter, posting 262,000 tweets over 10 years – a rate of over 70 a day! The tweet announcing his death generated 1.6 million impressions and 2,656 messages. His influence reached far and wide.

Ian created a seminal event in the care experienced movement in 2019: the Care Experienced Conference. His work over two years, together with that of his wife Sue, ensured its success. Documents capturing all the contributions were spread across the floor in his house for days until he was sure that nobody's voice was missed in the final report.

There is a direct link between the Care Experienced Conference top 10 issues and emerging social policy. For example, the new Ofsted judgment for care leavers reads like a playlist from the conference and the Care Review recommended that care experience should become a protected characteristic, which several local authorities have already adopted.

Ian's legacy will be twofold. First, the concepts that he developed now underpin thinking about children in care and care experienced people: that care is a lifelong experience; that age thresholds do not determine the support that people need; that many voices of all ages need to be heard; that professional allies are important partners; and that the interests and wishes of children should always be foremost.

Second, the way in which he empowered and influenced other people to contribute: the thousands he inspired through social media; people who worked with him whose thinking was changed by his ideas and his passion; and those in power that he doggedly challenged to do better, with his uncompromising expectations of what good care should be.

Ian was instrumental in influencing policy and building a stronger profile for care experience. But, as he would say, it is no use having a voice unless people are listening and things change. Let's hope that his aspirations will one day be realised.

Ian's devotion to his family was his greatest joy, but he also made a difference to the lives of thousands of others and will continue to do so for many years to come.