 A former resident of St Christopher’s Fellowship is supporting our current children and young people in our 150th birthday year.
Jason Cobine lived with St Christopher’s in the late 1980s. Since leaving our care he has forged a successful career and established his own insurance business. He credits the charity for giving him the skills and motivation to achieve his goals. Jason kindly shares his experiences in St Christopher’s Impact Report 2020. He said: “I felt I could progress quickly whilst living [at St Christopher’s], and found security. My key worker was a pivotal figure in helping me get my foot onto the first rung of the career ladder, and we are still in touch to this day.” You can read Jason’s story on Cobine Carmelson Ltd. In 2020, St Christopher’s is celebrating 150 years of creating brighter futures for children and young people. We would like your support in continuing our work, which provides vital services for young people who cannot live with their own families. Visit our 150th birthday page to support our work or find out more about our history. You can keep up to date with all of our 2020 activities on social media using #StChris150. Source: hwww.stchris.org.uk  St Christopher’s is delighted to release their Impact Report 2020 as part of their 150th birthday celebrations, which has been co-produced with young people accessing their services. This report commends young people’s achievements from over the last year, examines new services that have been developed in line with what young people need, and shares the ways in which staff and foster carers create brighter futures.  It also includes interviews with people who used to live in St Christopher’s services, where they have shared the difference that the charity has made to their lives.
he brochure has been co-produced with young people, showing St Christopher’s commitment to listening and acting on their views. It begins with an introduction from a St Christopher’s young person about their experiences and the impact services had on their lives. Other young people from the UK and the Isle of Man interviewed Chief Executive Jonathan Whalley and Chairs Bert O’Donoghue and Jane Poole-Wilson, grilling them about future plans for St Christopher’s. Finally, young people looked over the whole report to give feedback before it was printed. The Impact Report is available to read now. You can keep up with the rest of St Christopher’s 150th birthday activities on social media using #StChris150. Source: www.stchris.org.uk  In 2020 St Christopher’s Fellowship is celebrating 150 years of creating brighter futures for children and young people. We are inviting people to become part of our legacy by supporting our work over the coming year.
Our charity started out as Homes for Working Boys in 1870, set up by three school friends to aid boys and young men who moved to London for work but struggled to support themselves. We merged with the Fellowship of St Christopher’s in 1967 with a renewed focus on providing safe homes for young people who could not live with their own families or were homeless. Today, St Christopher’s is a provider of services and homes for children and young people in care. We offer children’s homes, supported housing, foster homes and specialist outreach services for young people who are often overlooked by statutory help. Our approach to working with young people focuses on bringing out their “inner diamond”. By helping young people to recognise their own talents, value and potential, we can build their self-confidence and support them to lead happy, successful lives, regardless of what has happened to them in the past. Chief Executive Jonathan Whalley said: “Over the last 150 years St Christopher’s has changed thousands of lives. We want to continue this vital work, but we need support from the community to do it. Anything that the public can offer to support our mission is gratefully received.” To support St Christopher’s or find out more about our work, click here Source: www.stchris.org.uk  Chelmsford Salary £42,000 - £50,000 depending on experience 37.5 hours per week Permanent St Christopher’s is seeking an experienced and dynamic professional to support and develop our fostering services across the Eastern Region including Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Peterborough, Essex, Bedfordshire and the London borders.
If you have a successful track record of recruiting foster carers and providing the training and support necessary to build a thriving fostering business, we want to hear from you. About Us St Christopher's is an established children’s charity that has provided care for vulnerable children and young people for almost 150 years. We provide fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative housing and support services across London, Bedfordshire, West Midlands and the Isle of Man. We really care about children and young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do. We ask young people what they think and involve them in decision making, from helping to shape new services to interviewing new members of staff. Our social pedagogic approach is our core philosophy of care. Put simply this is a holistic approach for building positive relationships with young people to bring out their inner “diamond”. This is a unique opportunity for you to build a fostering team that can deliver high standards of service and achieve excellent outcomes for children. You will be backed by St Christopher’s centrally co-ordinated and targeted recruitment campaigns and supported by marketing colleagues. Key aspects of the Role:
Applicants should have:
In return we offer:
Recruitment Process At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements. Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting. Your online application must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification. For the full Person Specification click here For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk Closing Date: 18th November 2019 Interviews: 25th November 2019 We currently have offices in London, Chelmsford and West Midlands – Interviews will be held at our Chelmsford Office St Christopher’s is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community as well as applications from candidates with care experience or experience of being a care leaver. Full details and application details here  St Christopher’s is delighted to announce our Staying Close pilot is being extended for another year to offer continued support to young people leaving care.
The Department for Education announced on Wednesday 23 October that further funding will be provided for all the Staying Close pilots running under their Innovation Programme, which includes St Christopher’s project. We work in partnership with the London Boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow as well as a private children’s home provider to ensure young people in the area have a smooth transition from residential care to independence. Mental health charity MAC-UK provides clinical supervision. Our project centres around keeping young people in touch with the people who they want to maintain a relationship with. Young people are supported by our worker to develop a Staying Close plan so they can outline what type of contact they want, whether it’s a weekly phone call or popping back to their old children’s home for dinner. This service is part of St Christopher’s strategic aim to promote lifelong learning and thriving for children and young people. We want them to enjoy happy, fulfilling lives when they leave care as part of our mission to create brighter futures. Chief Executive Jonathan Whalley said: “Leaving care is a journey, not a one-off event, so we are thrilled that this funding will support us to work alongside more young people as they make this transition.” Source: www.stchris.org.uk Member Job Opportunity: St Christopher's - Supervising Social Worker – Chelmsford - Part Time1/8/2019
 Location: Fostering Chelmsford Contract Type: Permanent Closing Date: 04 August 2019 Salary: Salary £28,766 - £33,843 per annum pro-rata depending on experience Specific Hours: 2 days a week (15 hours) We have a fantastic opportunity to join our team and a growing fostering service in Chelmsford where you will be able to contribute to achieving positive results for young people.
As a Supervising Social Worker, you will contribute to the growth and development of St Christopher’s fostering services by playing a key role in the recruitment, training and assessment of foster carers and by building positive relationships with referring authorities and other professionals. Applicants should have:
In return we offer:
Recruitment Process At St Christopher’s Fellowship we are committed to the safeguarding and protection of Children and Young People. We use applications forms to capture the essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements. Unfortunately, CV's will not be considered. Your application must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria given in the Person Specification available on our website. Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting. For the full Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here. Your application must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria given in the Person Specification. Closing Date: 4th August 2019 Please bear in mind that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. St Christopher’s is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community as well as applications from candidates with care experience or experience of being a care leaver. Full details and apply here  St Christopher’s is pleased to welcome recommendations from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education for Young People about how different groups can better support children in care with managing their money. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education for Young People launched this inquiry with a call for evidence, which St Christopher’s contributed to in January 2019. The strength of our expertise then secured us an invitation to the next stage of their inquiry, where Chief Executive Jonathan Whalley met with MPs in March 2019 to share more detail about our experiences and recommendations for how we can better equip young people to manage their finances. The report outlines 22 key recommendations for schools, foster carers, local authorities, government, charities and businesses. St Christopher’s is directly quoted in the report about the importance of where young people’s financial education comes from.  The APPG’s suggestions include making financial education a statutory part of the school curriculum, giving foster carers access to training, tools and resources, and providing government funding for people working with children in care and care leavers so that they are trained in financial education too. By recognising the roles that all these organisations and individuals can play in making financial education a success, we hope that there are more resources available for young people to make use of and more people supporting them to achieve.
The recommendations also outline how they want organisations to keep care leavers’ financial education central to their corporate social responsibility work and for banks to make sure it is easy for children in care to set up and access a bank account. At St Christopher’s we put children at the heart of all we do, so we are delighted to see this approach being recommended for other organisations too. Whilst we support these suggestions and the introduction of a minimum standard, much more can still be done to ensure care leavers have the right support around them to help them succeed in independence. Leaving care is a process, not a one off event, so we need to keep listening to what young people say about their needs and wishes. We hope that all care professionals do what they can to go beyond these recommendations to create the bright futures that our young people deserve. We look forward to seeing how these recommendations are implemented over the coming months. Source: https://www.stchris.org.uk  Location: Head Office Contract Type: Permanent Closing Date: 14 July 2019 Salary: £60,000 - £65,000 pa depending on qualifications and experience Specific Hours: 37.5 hours per week St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people and we are proud of our history for providing fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man.
St Christopher’s has established an ambitious, five-year strategy, which sets out a series of three key aims and objectives for the organisation. Mainly to achieve, “Brighter Futures for double the number of young people by 2023”. As part of our Strategy, a new Head of Operations post has been created and we are now looking for the right person to drive our expansion plans to meet increasing need as well as oversee our established services in the UK region. Reporting to the Director of Operations you will line manage a professional team (of 4 Regional Managers and 2 placement officers) who are well qualified and experienced in their respective roles. St Christopher’s Approach At St Christopher’s, Social Pedagogy is our core philosophy of care, drawing together theories and concepts from related disciplines such as sociology, psychology, education, philosophy, medical sciences and social work. Our use of social pedagogy centres on attachment theory and building positive relationships with young people to bring out their inner “diamond”. About the Role We have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do and as the Head of Operations; you will be a key player in building and extending this commitment. You will the lead the regional teams to deliver and exceed our agreed levels of care ensuring stable and safe placements. In addition, you will be the designated safeguarding officer placing the safeguarding of children and young people at the forefront of all our work in accordance with St Christopher’s safeguarding policy. The successful candidate will ideally:
In return we offer:
Recruitment Process At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. As part of our recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements. Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting. For the full Job Description and Person Specification, please click here. Your application must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria given in the Person Specification. Closing Date: 14th July 2019 Please bear in mind that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. St Christopher’s is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community as well as applications from candidates with care experience or experience of being a care leaver. Full details and apply here  Location: Head Office Contract Type: Permanent Closing Date: 23 July 2019 Salary: £45,000 - £50,000 depending on experience Specific Hours: 37.5 St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people and we are proud of our history for providing fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man.
We currently have an exciting opportunity for a Company Secretary ideally from a charity or non for profit background to join our administrative and governance team working closely with the Chief Executive Officer to contribute and help create an inspiring place to work by ensuring regulatory requirements are met and to manage the delivery of Council business for St Christopher's and its subsidiaries. Compliance responsibilities for data protection and quality assurance. Additionally the post holder will manage a small team responsible for providing a professional, customer focussed and cost effective data management, reception, administration and secretarial services at Head Office. The ideal candidate
The role will appeal to a creative self- starter with positive high energy levels, enthusiasm and a real can do attitude, looking for greater autonomy and a sense of ownership. If you’re ready for the challenge and think you have the skills to drive St Christopher’s forward we would love to hear from you. Key aspects of the job will be
In return we offer
Recruitment Process At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements. Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting. To be considered, your on-line application must include a full supporting statement addressing the criteria stated above. For the full Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here. If you require any further information, please contact us on 0208 780 7800 or send an email to recruitment@stchris.org.uk Closing Date: 23rd July 2019 Please bear in mind that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. St Christopher’s is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community as well as applications from candidates with care experience or experience of being a care leaver. Source: https://isw.changeworknow.co.uk  For Foster Care Fortnight 2019, St Christopher’s wants to celebrate the amazing foster families who transform the lives of children every single day. Sharon is just one of these foster carers – here she tells her story of fostering three sisters. Hello, I’m Sharon I have been asked to talk about my experience of therapeutic parenting as a foster carer. My parents were foster carers when I was younger and my mum looked after 65 children in total before she retired, so I wanted to give it a go too. A few years ago three girls came to move in with me. At first they was so much sibling rivalry and jealousy, but at the same time they were scared to be separated. They also showed signs of hyper-vigilance, which is when you are constantly looking around you to check for danger that is reminiscent of something you have experienced before.  We knew they had experienced trauma, neglect and abuse before they came into care, which is why they were behaving in these ways. They had spent three years living apart with other foster families and had only been reunited for one year before they moved in with us, so they had to get used to being together again.
Initially we couldn’t leave the children alone together because they would start fighting, so we worked with St Christopher’s therapeutic specialist to see what techniques we could introduce. This support was really helpful and made a huge difference. We started putting firm boundaries and routines in place, like set bedtimes and each girl having the same specific colour for their cup or lunchbox so there can be no jealousy. We also noticed that if we praise the girls for something, like a drawing, they would destroy it because they did not think they deserve nice treats or items. So now we don’t overreact, overpraise or oversympathise, but we always tell them that they have good hearts. Since we started with therapeutic parenting, the girls are more settled and calm. They fight less and have become more confident, as well as thinking about the consequences of their actions. But we are all on a journey so we still have a fair way to go. And my mom made it all look so easy! Could you change a child’s life like Sharon? Get in touch with St Christopher’s today to speak to a member of our fostering team. Source: www.stchris.org.uk |
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