Ashley John-Baptiste | A Childhood in Care
Sun 27 Apr 2025 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Award-winning BBC presenter and journalist Ashley John-Baptiste is known for his powerful storytelling on The One Show and BBC News, covering issues of adoption, race, homelessness, and the care system. Now, in his deeply personal and unflinching memoir, Looked After, he turns the lens on his own life, offering an intimate exploration of the UK’s social care system through the eyes of someone who lived it.
Placed in foster and residential care from the age of two, Ashley moved through five different placements and families before turning eighteen. The instability of his upbringing shaped every aspect of his life—his education, identity, friendships, and sense of belonging. Yet, against the odds, he earned a place to study history at Cambridge University, defying the low expectations often placed on children in care.
In Looked After, Ashley reflects on the adults, social workers, and mentors who influenced his journey, the challenges of growing up in a system that is meant to provide security but often falls short, and the intersection of race, masculinity, and care experience. Now a journalist who reports on the care sector and mentors young people, he offers a moving, eye-opening, and necessary perspective on the state of social care in Britain today.
Join Ashley as he shares his remarkable story of resilience, identity, and the power of opportunity.
In conversation with Martin Figura.
Venue: Old Divinity School
Duration: 1 hour
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Author Biography
Ashley John-Baptiste is an award-winning BBC presenter and journalist. A frequent reporter and presenter across The One Show and BBC News, he also presents the BBC One daytime series Expert Witness and co-hosts Dr Xand’s Con or Cure. Ashley grew up in foster and residential care in south-east London and faced school exclusions and suspensions as a child. As a teenager, Ashley gained a place to study history at Cambridge University and soon after graduating, Ashley fronted a BBC Three documentary about his childhood in care, which kickstarted his career as a BBC broadcaster. He is a much sought-after speaker, where he shares his journey with the aim of giving hope and insight to others
Chair Biography
Martin Figura’s collection and show Whistle were shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award and won the 2013 Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show. Shed (Gatehouse Press) and Dr Zeeman’s Catastrophe Machine (Cinnamon Press) were both published in 2016. In 2021 he was Salisbury NHS Writer in Residence; the resulting pamphlet My Name is Mercy (Fair Acre Press) won a national NHS award. A second pamphlet from Fair Acre Press Sixteen Sonnets for Care came out in October 2022. His collection The Remaining Men ( Cinnamon Press) was published in 2024. He Lives in Norwich with Helen Ivory and sciatica.
