National children's charity Barnardo's is appealing for people in Herts and Essex to volunteer as foster parents as part of its Change A Life campaign. Currently 855 children are being fostered in Essex and more are waiting to find a loving home. In Herts 745 youngsters currently need help. The charity says children may find themselves in care because their parent is sick, or they may have experienced abuse or neglect – whatever the reason, they need love, stability and support. TOWIE (The Only Way is Essex) star Debbie Douglas is supporting Barnardo's campaign as she has fostered more than 250 children. She said: "Fostering has been one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things I've done in my life. I've had so much joy from watching vulnerable children blossom and thrive when they are in my care. "I know from being a mum that every child deserves the best start in life. You don't have to have any special skills to foster, just be able to offer a child a loving home." Barnardo's is reaching out to would-be carers who want to provide homes for older children, siblings, and disabled children. These youngsters often find it more difficult to find homes, increasing the chances they will be moved around or in the case of siblings, tragically, split up. A Barnardo's South East senior family placement spokesman said: "Loving foster care is crucial to giving vulnerable children the happy home they so desperately need and deserve. However too many never experience this, because there simply aren't enough foster carers to go around to care for the most vulnerable youngsters. "Single or in a couple, black or white, same-sex or heterosexual; we are asking would-be carers to come forward and help change a child's life." Since 2010, the number of children in foster placements in England and Wales has risen by eight per cent from 51,250 to 55,745. To help contact Barnardo's www.barnardos.org.uk/changealife 0800 0277 280. Source: http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/Barnardo-s-urges-Herts-Essex-residents-volunteer/story-27730018-detail/story.html Five of Community Foster Care’s young people did a brilliant job on a Life Skills course organised by Placement Support Worker Gavin Worrall. It covered lots of different life skills over five days, including money management, home safety, cooking, shopping, health and wellbeing, team building and employability skills. The young people also organised a community project and chose to run an afternoon tea and bingo at an old people’s home in Matson. They made sandwiches and baked heart-shaped shortbread and cupcakes. The bingo session was a huge success with the young people getting into the spirit of things using the traditional bingo calls and supplying prizes. It was a great day and well attended by the residents who all seemed to enjoy the company of our young people. I was most impressed with the confidence of our young people who took it in turns to talk to residents and call out the bingo numbers. They were all-round outstanding as they organised and prepared the day in one morning. It couldn't have gone any better. All the food was eaten and it was great to see young and old swapping life stories. The home manager was so pleased that she later bought our team boxes of chocolates to say thank you. Young people also visited SkillZone, a safety unit built to educate young people and adults. They completed a cooking challenge in which they had to feed a big staff team at a local youth club, helped by a trained chef. The team with the lowest budget won Here’s some of the feedback received: "I really enjoyed the week and have learnt so many new skills." "I liked everything but my favourite day was the Community Challenge." "I would definitely attend Life Skills again next year - it was really fun but also educational." It was a fantastic week, and that was all down to the amount of effort the young people put in. They did lots of work and have the folders to prove it. I am really proud of them and hope they continue to use the new life skills they learnt. Source: http://www.communityfostercare.co.uk/news-and-events/news/1074/bingo-our-young-people-score-a-full-house Kasper is hosting a best practice conference for foster carers, social work professionals, early help and virtual school staff on 20th October 2015. Expert speakers Alex Hassett, Betsy de Thierry and James McAllister from the Institute for the Recovery from Childhood Trauma (IRCT) will deliver a conference learning programme that explores: > Understanding the trauma continuum, your role and where you fit - what works for whom? > Relationships and brain development > The impact of trauma and neglect on the developing brain > The difference between therapy and a therapeutic environment > The role of the school in supporting recovery for traumatised children > The role of joint working in promoting recovery Alex Hassett is a Principal Lecturer and Senior Consultant in the Salomons Centre of Applied Psychology at Canterbury Christ Church University. Alex offers consultancy to local authorities, the health sector and voluntary organisations around issues related to children and young people’s mental health. He also develops and delivers training to practitioners in the areas of young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health and relationship building. Betsy de Thierry first qualified as a counselor and primary teacher in 1994 and has worked in these fields since that time. She trains a wide variety of people including psychotherapists, police, teachers and people from different professional disciplines in the children’s workforce. She travels around the globe teaching and training professionals in working with the traumatised. Betsy inspires, encourages, equips and educates the groups who attend her training and the feedback is evident of her success in supporting and helping those who care. James McAllister is a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and works creatively with children who have experienced early developmental trauma (abuse and/or neglect). He promotes the benefits of creative therapies (e.g. art, music, sandplay, clay) where the child can experience repetitive, rewarding relational activities which can heal the traumatised brain. To register your place at the conference, please visit Eventbrite. “Our mission is to ensure that recovery from trauma is available to all children” www.irct.org.uk Source: http://www.kasperfostering.org/news/kasper-hosts-working-across-the-trauma-continuum-training-conference/ Our chief executive, Javed Khan, is delighted to be awarded with an honorary doctorate in his hometown of Birmingham this week by Birmingham City University. Birmingham born Javed Khan joined Barnardo’s in 2014, bringing with him over 30 years’ experience working in the UK public and voluntary sectors. As chief executive he is responsible for over 8,000 staff and 15,000 volunteers, who together run over 900 services in local communities, helping to support some of the UK’s most vulnerable children and their families. Throughout his career, Javed has developed a track record of successfully managing change through a number of key high profile leadership roles. Prior to Barnardo’s he was chief executive at Victim Support. Under his leadership the charity successfully managed a period of significant change, generating new business opportunities and raising its public and political profile. On receiving his award he said: "I am delighted and humbled by the award of an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University. Growing up in the backstreets of Birmingham, never in my wildest dreams could I have predicted this would happen. My achievements were only made possible because of the efforts of the many people that I have learnt a great deal from, over many years." Javed will receive his award on Wednesday 2 September at the awards congregation ceremony, held at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. The ceremony will celebrate the work and achievements of students graduating from the Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences. Source: http://www.barnardos.org.uk/news/Barnardo8217s_CEO_receives_university_honour/latest-news.htm?ref=108166 |
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