Former GP Dr Derek Conaty has joined the board of independent agency Community Foster Care. Dr Conaty was a GP in Brockworth for 28 years until his retirement in 2013. He also worked part-time in the Learning Disability Services of the 2getherNHS Trust. He has lived in Brockworth for 31 years. “In my working life I saw the important role that fostering has in some children’s lives and the great work that foster carers do. I also saw first-hand the extremely challenging circumstances that can affect some families. “I hope to bring some of my experiences as a GP and in the learning disability service to my new role.” Chair of Trustees John McLaughlin welcomed Derek to the board. “His experience and empathy with the foster care sector will be invaluable,” he said.
The agency, based in Staunton, is a registered charity and not-for-profit company operating in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. Established in 1999, it has nine staff based in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, five in Lancashire and Cumbria, and three in its sister organisation Community Family Care. Source: http://www.communityfostercare.co.uk Community Foster Care is a not-for-profit foster care agency which provides foster care placements for local children in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Swindon, West Cumbria and Lancashire. Our ambition is to be the best provider of fostering services in the UK, where children flourish and have the greatest opportunities to achieve their personal ambitions. Community Family Care, our sister organisation, provides community based family support services to the local community in Gloucestershire, including training, support and guidance to families. Enabling children and families to stay together is central to our mission, and our work is focused on supporting people to make the changes necessary to improve the lives of children. We have ambitious targets to continue our pioneering work with children and families against a changing landscape. To spearhead initiatives that will drive our sustainable growth, we are now looking for a talented and entrepreneurial Chief Executive who will work across both organisations. Someone who shares our vision and values and who will work with the Board and our committed team to make a difference to even more children's lives and to the communities where they live. This pivotal role requires proven strategic leadership with an exceptional ability to engage and work with stakeholders including children, foster carers and service providers across health, education, the third sector and Local Authorities. You will believe passionately in supporting young people and all of those who care for them to create the conditions for children to thrive. We have our roots in social enterprise and this is central to our growth strategy. You will bring business acumen; be committed to ensuring financial sustainability and growth for both Community Foster Care and Community Family Care and you will have a deep understanding of the complex nature of commissioning and service provision. To find out more about the role visit the website. For an informal and confidential discussion about the role, please contact our advising consultants at GatenbySanderson, Juliet Brown (0113 205 6089) or Joanna Riley (07807 624332). Closing date for applications is Friday 9th December 2016. Source: https://jobs.theguardian.com The CEO’s letter Just over two years ago we decided to launch the Andrew Turner Award. This was predominantly in recognition of our then Chairman who, over many years contributed so much to the continuation of the Trust. We have much to thank him for. As a result, we put aside a small pot of money each year and Carers and staff are encouraged to nominate our children for this award. I have always made it very clear that these achievements are all about the child or young person, as long as they are significant to them they are of importance to us. Therefore, it continues to be a real joy and a privilege to make these awards personally. Over the past two years I have had nominations ranging from a child being able to sit still for an entire school lesson to a young person achieving amazing A level results! The nominations are wonderful to read and in between the written lines the passion and commitment our Carers invest in the children they care for is almost palpable. Making these awards always gives me the opportunity to write to Carers personally to say a huge thank you for their work, it is always humbling to receive replies stating that the achievements are all down to the child or young person they care for and really nothing to do with them! Ordinary families doing extraordinary work, this is what CFT is all about! Talking of extraordinary families, I am very proud to share with you all news of our very special award from the Fostering Network. Each year the Fostering Network ask the general public, the local authorities and fostering agencies for nominations regarding those outstanding individuals who make huge differences in children and young people’s lives. This can be a Social Worker, a Foster Carer, a former fostered child or a child who fosters. We decided to nominate several of our Carers across the Trust this year as well as a number of children who foster. After several weeks of waiting the Fostering Network informed us that not only had we been chosen to receive an award, we had been chosen from several hundred nominations to receive their most prestigious award, the President’s Award. This is a ‘one off’ award which from time to time they feel an individual or family is deserving of. Clare and Mike Eynon and their daughter Becky will receive this award at the Fostering Network awards ceremony in London on September 27th. Alongside them will be the young mum they cared for several years ago. Tragically whilst caring for both mum and child Ajay passed away peacefully as a result of a life limiting illness. The entire family’s support, love, commitment and dogged determination in ensuring Ajay received the very best of times with his mum right to the end of his short life was nothing less than amazing to witness. The Fostering Network spent a very enjoyable day in Mike and Clare’s home recently making a film about their experiences as Foster Carers for the Trust. This film will be shown on the 27th as part of the awards ceremony and will then be available to view on You Tube! As I reported in an earlier edition we are also very busy ‘rebranding’. As such we have carried out surveys, sent out questionnaires and are working closely with a marketing company devising and designing our new logo and slogan to be launched in January. Source: http://thecft.org.uk An innovative research project designed to shift public perceptions about fostering unaccompanied child refugees has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award for public engagement. Recognised by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) through its 2016 Engage Competition, the project – ‘Fostering Hope’ – is bringing together researchers from the University in partnership with TACT to tackle a recruitment challenge in finding new foster carers for refugee children. With seed funding from the University’s Public Engagement Unit, the team involved worked with a group of fostered refugee children, sharing their experiences through a photo-voice project designed to challenge some of the many of the misconceptions that exist and act as barriers to fostering. These included issues about meeting the cultural needs of children as well as misperceptions about what being an asylum seeker means. The participatory project involved running focus groups with foster carers organised through TACT, and workshops for the young people, giving them a voice to drive the research. By providing cameras, the researchers challenged young people to document their day-to-day lives and activities, depoliticising ideas that persist and showing fostered refugees first and foremost as children. ‘Overwhelmingly positive’ Photos and posters from the project were put on public display, including to over 2000 people at Refugee Week in Bristol and also at The Edge, at which responses, including from foster carers, were overwhelmingly positive. Elaine Graham, Area Manager at TACT explains: “As a fostering service we are experiencing significant challenges in finding homes for young unaccompanied asylum seekers. This project was innovative in how it brought together research expertise from Bath to help us bring about change. Early results have been very good and this kind of work shows the importance of this kind of collaboration.” Lead researcher behind the initiative, Dr Justin Rogers from the Department of Social & Policy Sciences, added: “One of the most significant aspects about this work was that it enabled our group of young refugees to be the ones to lead the initiative to change perceptions. Through the activities we organised and the photo-voice project that this involved, not only did they enjoy and benefit from the work but it had added impact among other audiences too.” Inspiring and involving public audiences Being shortlisted for the NCCPE award is a remarkable achievement – finalists have been selected from over 180 entries which demonstrate a broad range of high quality activities to inspire and involve public audiences. Source: https://www.tactcare.org.uk The Fostering Network have recently issued a reminder for all fostering services to produce a Foster Carers’ Charter – to clearly highlight the commitments of both the fostering provider and the foster carer. FCC have had a charter in place since 2012, and it is provided to all newly registered foster carers along with their carer agreement form. The objective of the charter is to unite foster carers, local authorities and fostering services around a shared understanding. The charter can be viewed here. Source: http://www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk FtSE Member News: TACT - My name is Charlie, and I’m just a teenager who goes to university28/10/2016
For many young people, university will be the first time that they’ve left home to live independently. It’ll be a pivotal moment in their lives, leaving their family and friends to pursue higher education. It will end in a degree that will make or break whether or not they reach their dream career. But for foster children, that dream seems much more far off than for others. Only 6% of children in the fostering system make it into university. A lot of people might argue that most foster children are lazy and will never amount to anything, that they misbehave and therefore will not provide the grades for a successful application. However, some children are in the care system and want more out of life. To break the stereotypes that they are bound by. But when they’ve lived life hearing that children in their position are less likely to do well, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they believe they will do badly, they will. That’s what I did, at first. I had spent years watching crime shows, where almost all of the criminals were portrayed as people who had spent their childhoods in and out of foster care, and turned to a life of crime. I reached 17 years old, and was almost scared to submit an application. All my friends were in the process of choosing what locations and courses they wanted to apply for, whereas I was stuck questioning whether or not it was worth it. I was just another care kid who would never be successful. My dreams were just that. Dreams. Fantasies that would never become real. It took a couple of pep talks from various teachers and Lynne, my TACT foster carer, before I even entertained the idea. I submitted an application to my university of choice, did two interviews for two courses and a joint honours, and then finished my A-levels. I spent the summer worrying about what I was supposed to do with my life if I didn’t get into university. I needn’t have worried. On the day that I was to go and pick up my A-level results, I received an email. I was with my boyfriend, just scrolling through my laptop and I must have frightened him to death, because I suddenly burst into tears. All I could say was, “I got in!” and then I attracted the rest of the household, who all congratulated me and said that they knew I could do it. I next called Lynne, who cheered down the phone with me and was ready with a congratulations card when she picked me up from results day. I felt a bit ashamed of myself for a while afterwards. Why didn’t I believe that I could get in? I was just as able as any other person my age. Starting university, I was afraid that people would see me differently if I admitted that I was in foster care. Yet again, I needn’t have worried, as all of my peers were accepting and treated me as they did everyone else. The only difference was that my lecturers were a bit more wary of how they treated me. I was often called into their office for “meetings” with them patronisingly asking how I was doing, but this soon stopped when they realised that I wasn’t handling the course any better or worse than the rest of my classmates. At the end of the day, I am still human. I am still just a teenager tackling the difficulties of university like any other. The only difference between my uni friends and me is that I don’t call my parental figures ‘mum’ and ‘dad’. I still go to all of the lectures, do all of the homework and assignments, take the same exams. My name is Charlie, and I’m just a teenager who goes to university. Charlie Lain, TACT Young Person Source: https://www.tactcare.org.uk A young person living at one of our London children's homes spoke at the recent Council meeting to talk about the life journey work she has been doing with support from staff. She was a very eloquent speaker and highlighted some of the sensitivities around being a looked after child and how teachers, care staff and other adults can behave more thoughtfully. One thing that she raised as an issue was always providing receipts for each purchase to pass back to staff. She discussed the stigma and awkwardness of this, so SMT have committed to reviewing this in the future. At St Christopher's we value young people's opinions and always listen to what they have to say so we can shape our services to meet their needs. Director of Corporate Services Geneva Ellis said: "It was really helpful for Trustees and the Senior Management Team to hear the impact of being in care on a young person first-hand and how an organisation's policies affect young people." Source: http://www.stchris.org.uk A journal article has been published looking at St Christopher's use of Attachment Style Interviews and Vulnerable Attachment Style Questionnaire within our children's homes in England and the Isle of Man. Oxford University Press published the paper on behalf of the British Association of Social Workers. It describes the use of ASI and VASQ in a pilot study of young people in our care. The study's aim was to test these measures in practice contexts administered by practitioners and to determine rates of insecure and disorganised attachment style so they could be compared with other studies. Results show around half of the young people had disorganised or mixed attachment styles. Avoidant styles were more common than anxious ones, but secure style was rare. The study also looked at how young people and carers sometimes gave different ratings but were similar overall. The ASI and Q-Pack enable us to get better outcomes for young people as we can offer more tailored support packages. This sets us apart from other providers and shows how we really go the extra mile to help every young person who comes to us. Chief Executive Ron Giddens said: "This article is a testament to the innovative work that we have been able to do in partnership with our colleagues at Middlesex University." Source: http://www.stchris.org.uk FtSE Member News: Action for Children's response to changes to the Children & Social Work Bill19/10/2016
The Government has amended the Children & Social Work Bill to ensure that local authorities must always consider both the physical and mental health of children when carrying out their duties as corporate parents. In a series of amendments yesterday, the Government also ensured that local authorities will be obliged to reach out to care leavers and offer them the extra support the Bill provides for, rather than care leavers having to request it. Emma Smale, Head of Policy and Research at Action for Children and Co-Chair of the Alliance for Children in Care and Care Leavers said: "We are very pleased that the government has listened to the many concerned voices calling for important changes to the Children and Social Work Bill, changes that will promote good mental health and emotional well being in children as they grow up in care and prepare to leave it. Action for Children has been calling for stronger requirements on councils and the NHS to consider the mental health and emotional well being of children as well as their physical health when carrying out their duties. As part of the Alliance for Children in Care and Care Leavers, and with the support of several medical colleges, Action for Children has been calling for stronger requirements on councils and the NHS to consider the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children as well as their physical health when carrying out their duties. The Alliance was also concerned that responsibility for receiving the additional leaving care support outlined in the Bill lay with care leavers themselves rather than with local authorities. By incorporating several amendments on these issues the government is helping to guarantee greater focus on supporting children to recover from the psychological impact of neglect and abuse. We urge the government to go further to ensure that children’s mental health needs are picked up on and addressed early.” Source: https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk A glittering awards event for Break's corporate supporters At a glittering gala dinner at Sprowston Manor, hosted by Break patron, Jake Humphrey, 180 guests from the Norfolk business community gathered to celebrate the support given to Break to change young lives. Michael Rooney, Head of Commercial Services and Martin Green, Fundraising Manager, welcomed the guests and followed this with a game of 'Heads & Tails' setting the tone for a great evening. After dinner, Jake thanked everyone for their invaluable support to Break and presented the awards. Awards Fundraising ‘Team of the Year’ (Sponsored by Smith & Pinching) This award is awarded to the staff or volunteer group of people, of three or more, who have gone the extra mile to support Break Charity, either independently or as ‘Charity of the Year’. Winner - Arnolds Keys Judges looked at their total engagement across all the areas of criteria – and this is awarded to them for their outstanding group motivation and engagement from Golf days, Valuation days, Auction event, Staff Back a cake day and the wider engagement of their office's in the community. As well as the introduction to Kieron Williamson they also sponsored and engaged in the GoGoDragon project, putting on a showcase event at Norwich castle. Award for Innovation (Sponsored by Aspiration Europe) This is awarded to a group, individual or organisation that has implemented a new initiative that has helped to promote the charity’s work, profile of a shared event, or helped to raise funds. Winner - Longwater Construction Awarded to Neil Carter, as the brain child of the Breaking Clays event, now in its fourth year and raised almost £70k for Break, and growing, whilst also giving Break a wide number of good solid contacts and supporters for future events. Photo shows Anne Ovens, Break trustee from Aspiration Europe with Jake Humphrey. Corporate Partner of the Year This is awarded for an outstanding partnership between a business and Break Charity, working together as part of an overall shared event, activity or goal. Winner -Timothy Hay and The Beeston Group Tim has been a long term supporter of Break, first coming to light with the gorillas which he sponsored and bought three at auction, this progressed to Dragons, again sponsoring and buying a number. He also donated a camping weekend for Break and has also given us a holiday home fully furnished for a year, for us to use, as well donating a caravan to two of Break’s services. Award collected on Tim's behalf by James Boudlin from The Beeston Group. Silver Lining Long Term Supporter Award Awarded to a group, individual or organisation that has supported Break for a period of more than five years; making a significant input into the charity to enable it to grow and develop. Winner - Clapham & Collinge Long term supporters working with Break for over seven years, this has helped us create a network of contacts through Lunch on the Green (LOTG) which has been developed with Clapham & Collinge. C & C also sponsored a gorilla & dragon, as well as opening up reductions on services for our staff. The final award was a special award ‘Shining Stars’ presented to Stephen Bourne (The Mill House, Wells), Jill Watkinson (The Space), Sally Adams (Artist), Ross Haddow (Stody Estate), Radley and Kate Fenn (Coleman Opticians), Rob Whitwood (Inspired Youth) and Natalie Davies (Inspired Youth/Inspired Women). Everyone of this 'Shining Stars' has gone the extra mile to support Break to change young lives. The auction, raffle and ‘heads and tails’ raised over £6k for Break.
A huge thank you to the sponsors of the the event - Smith & Pinching, Aspiration Europe and Shred Station; to Ruth Lowe, Ruth Elizabeth Events and to Janie and Dave Richardson of Big Phat Photos. Source: http://break-charity.org |
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