 Location: West Bromwich (remote working possible) Contract Type: Fixed Term Closing Date: 03 August 2021 Salary: £24,000 per annum pro-rata Specific Hours: Part time, 20 hours per week This role is part of a one year online safety in fostering project. The successful candidate will support and empower young people to develop online safety in fostering policy and procedures that meet their diverse needs – including safeguarding – reflective of their lived experiences.
About Us Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future. 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 have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do. We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home. We are an equal opportunity employer and keen to develop an inclusive workforce were people feel they belong. We hope to attract application from under- represented groups including people from different cultures, nationalities, socio economic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religion, faith, sex, orientation, child care responsibilities and with gender diverse identities. About the Role As Project Officer, you will be expected to build trusting, positive relationships with young people to enable them to feel confident to express their wishes and feelings whilst also safeguarding them and promoting their welfare. You will identify with young people what they need to develop online safety in fostering policy and procedures that meet their diverse needs. You will liaise with the Head of Fostering and grant funders to complete regular progress reports to a high professional standard using mixed media. You will be expected to work in a participative way and share reflective practice with our Participation lead. You will encourage young people to fully participate in society by developing links with the community, expanding their social network, with consideration of how this applies to an online context within foster care. Applicants should have
What you should expect from us
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 Job Description and Person Specification click here. For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk Closing date: 03/08/2021 We advise to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. St Christopher’s Fellowship has a minimum age requirement of 21 for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and semi-independent Homes. Full details and application documents here  Young people living with foster families in England often move out to live independently when they are 18. Under Staying Put, young people have the chance to stay with their foster families up to the age of 25 instead. This provides stability and support at a crucial stage in young people’s lives and gives them a wider range of opportunities, such as going to university. With many students currently finishing their degrees, we spoke to Kanyin, a 21-year-old young person who lives with a St Christopher’s foster family. Kanyin is about to graduate from Coventry University, so she shared her experiences of how Staying Put with her foster family supported her to complete her degree and deal with the pandemic.  How long have you lived with your foster family?
For ten years, since I was 11 years old. How would you describe your relationship with your foster carer? I see her as my second mum. I can talk to her about anything and I feel very comfortable with her. It’s always been easy to go to her as she’s so supportive. How would you summarise Staying Put? Staying Put is the chance for a young person to still focus on yourself, have time to enjoy being young and to do what you really want to do. It’s instead of getting pushed into the real world too early. I feel like I’ve been lucky in that sense – I can do things like go on holiday with my friends without worrying about bills and money. For foster carers, Staying Put is a chance for them to keep supporting a young person until they’re ready for adulthood. To me it’s basically an extension of what the whole fostering system is. Did you always know you were going to be Staying Put? Yeah, I did always know – me and my carer and my social worker had the conversation and agreed that Staying Put was the best option. I didn’t feel comfortable to leave yet. What difference did it make being able to stay in fostering after you turned 18? I felt less stressed out. I never had to think about extra bills apart from my uni ones, which I covered through student loans and my job. And it means I could go home during university holidays instead of being by myself and feeling lonely. As a care leaver if you want to move out from your foster family AND go to university, you could have to stay in the place you’re from – otherwise you can end up paying two sets of rent, which isn’t manageable. It’s not right for a young person to face so much pressure. All that stress can make young people in care not want to go to university. And sometimes young people and their foster carers don’t have the option for them to Stay Put, so young people have to decide between going to university or working full-time. What support has been available for you to go to university? On my course I was given a laptop, this was really good financially as it could be a struggle to pay for this otherwise. My local authority provided some funding when I started university to cover rent for my uni accommodation during the holidays. My personal advisor helped to split the money in a way that best supported my needs. How has the pandemic been for you as a university student? The pandemic has been a bit stressful. Everything I thought was going to happen did not happen! I decided to live alone for third year so I was assuming a lot of my socialising would be outside of my accommodation, but then we weren’t allowed to meet up with people. Living on my own was very lonely and boring, especially once face-to-face lectures stopped. I feel worse for the people who started uni for the first time in the pandemic – at least I knew what it was like to have a “proper” experience for the first couple of years! Coming back home to London towards the end of my course was better because I didn’t feel lonely. I knew there were always other people in the house that I could spend time with. How has your foster family helped you during the pandemic? It was good to still able to talk to them and have them supporting me. Moving back home made life a lot easier as I was able to have proper interactions with people after living alone – although it was an adjustment from living independently and doing what I want, to going back living with my family! What needs to change about the care system? Everyone is different but I feel they should provide more support to care leavers. There needs to be teaching on how to budget and not just pushing someone out to be independent. Thank you Kanyin for sharing your experiences! If you would like to learn more about becoming a foster carer, click the button below to get in touch with us. Source: www.stchris.org.uk  St Christopher’s fostering teams were nominated for a prize at the Mind Of My Own VoxCon 2021 awards on Friday 21 May.
Mind Of My Own is an app that allows young people to communicate with social workers and other professionals. They can give feedback on the service and support they have received, and advocate that their rights are respected. Our fostering teams were nominated for the ‘Greatest Usage’ category because of their work encouraging more young people to use the Mind Of My Own app to share their views and experiences. Within this category, St Christopher’s was the only fostering agency to be nominated. Despite not winning, the nomination still recognised the emphasis our teams place on listening to young people and acting on what they say, in alignment with our child-centred approach to participation. Winners were announced at an online awards ceremony that celebrated the creative ways nominees have supported children and young people to give their feedback. At last year’s awards, St Christopher’s won the category for ‘Most Creative Mind Of My Own Comms’ for a video designed by young people. In the video, young people explained how the app helped them to be heard by professionals. Congratulations to St Christopher’s fostering teams! You can learn more here about what it’s like to foster. Source: www.stchris.org.uk  Location: Fostering Chelmsford Contract Type: Zero Hours Salary: Salary £10.85 per hour Specific Hours: Variable hours Closing Date: 28 May 2021 About Us
Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future. 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 have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do. We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home. We are an equal opportunity employer and keen to develop an inclusive workforce were people feel they belong. We hope to attract application from under- represented groups including people from different cultures, nationalities, socio economic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religion, faith, sex, orientation, child care responsibilities and with gender diverse identities. About the Role We are looking to recruit a Fostering Support Worker (Bank) working closely with the supervising social workers, local authorities and other professionals to support foster placements. The role will involve:
Applicants should have:
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 Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here. For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk Closing Date: 28.05.21 Interview Date: 16.06.21 We advise to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. St Christopher’s Fellowship has a minimum age requirement of 21 for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and semi-independent Homes. Full details and application documents here  Foster Care Fortnight takes places from 10-23 May 2021. The theme this year is #WhyWeCare, encouraging people involved in fostering to tell everyone what makes them want to help children and young people.
St Christopher’s runs two fostering services, one in the Eastern Region and one in the West Midlands. Between the regions there are 54 foster families caring for 70 children and young people. Could you be a foster carer? St Christopher’s is looking for people who want to create brighter futures for children and young people through fostering. We are a registered charity, which means we can put the needs of young people at the heart of all of our work. When you are a foster carer, a young person moves into your home with you. You look after them just as you would with your own child, helping them with education, friendships and enjoying their childhood. There is no one-size-fits-all foster carer – St Christopher’s welcomes applicants from all backgrounds with all different life experiences, as long as you can meet these requirements to foster:
Learn more about fostering Sign up to a free online drop-in session, where you can find out what it’s really like to foster from current Foster Carers. Visit our YouTube channel to watch videos about fostering or read stories from our foster carers on our website. Request a call back today or call 0800 234 6282 to speak to a member of our team. Even if you are at the early stages of considering fostering and just want to ask some questions, we are happy to help. Source: www.stchris.org.uk  Location: West Bromwich (remote working possible) Contract Type: Fixed Term Closing Date: 23 May 2021 Salary: £24,000 per annum pro-rata Specific Hours: Part time, 20 hours per week This role is part of a one year online safety in fostering project. The successful candidate will support and empower young people to develop online safety in fostering policy and procedures that meet their diverse needs – including safeguarding – reflective of their lived experiences.
About Us Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future. 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 have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do. We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home. We are an equal opportunity employer and keen to develop an inclusive workforce were people feel they belong. We hope to attract application from under- represented groups including people from different cultures, nationalities, socio economic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religion, faith, sex, orientation, child care responsibilities and with gender diverse identities. About the Role As Project Officer, you will be expected to build trusting, positive relationships with young people to enable them to feel confident to express their wishes and feelings whilst also safeguarding them and promoting their welfare. You will identify with young people what they need to develop online safety in fostering policy and procedures that meet their diverse needs. You will liaise with the Head of Fostering and grant funders to complete regular progress reports to a high professional standard using mixed media. You will be expected to work in a participative way and share reflective practice with our Participation lead. You will encourage young people to fully participate in society by developing links with the community, expanding their social network, with consideration of how this applies to an online context within foster care. Applicants should have
What you should expect from us
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 Job Description and Person Specification click here. For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk Closing date: 23/05/2021 We advise to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. St Christopher’s Fellowship has a minimum age requirement of 21 for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and semi-independent Homes. Full details and application documents here  Location: West Bromwich Contract Type: Contractor Closing Date: 31 March 2021 Salary: Fee of up to £2000 on completion Specific Hours: Contractor St Christopher’s has an exciting opportunity to join its West Midlands Fostering Team covering foster carers across the West Midlands local authorities. We are looking for Form F Assessors to help us assess potential foster carers as to their ability to provide a safe and nurturing environment for children in our care.
About the Role
Skills for Independent Form F Assessors We are open to applications from a range of backgrounds and expertise, but you will need to possess the following skills and knowledge:
What we offer As part of their role Independent Form F Assessors receive:
How to apply If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your covering statement or letter and CV to Debbie Stone (DebbieStone@stchris.org.uk) All applicants will be required to undertake a DBS check as part of the interview process. For the full job description and person specification, please click here. For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact Debbie Stone (DebbieStone@stchris.org.uk). Full details and application documents here  Location: Fostering Chelmsford Contract Type: Permanent Closing Date: 21 February 2021 Salary: Salary £30,000 - £41,000 per annum depending on experience Specific Hours: 37.5 hours per week Remote Home Working Due to current situation, this role will be home based. Any face to face work with carers or children only occurs in relation to safeguarding and under government guidance.
We have a fantastic opportunity to join our friendly team and a growing fostering service in Chelmsford where your skills will flourish, and you will be able to contribute to achieving positive results for young people. About Us St Christopher's is an established children’s charity that has provided care and support for vulnerable children and young people for 150 years. Our focus and commitment is all about our children and young people. We provide fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative housing and support services across London, Essex, 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 children and 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 children and young people to bring out their inner “diamond”. We are an equal opportunity employer and keen to develop an inclusive workforce were people feel they belong. We hope to attract application’s from under- represented groups including people from different cultures, nationalities, socio economic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religion, faith, sex, orientation, child care responsibilities and with gender diverse identities. About the Role As a Senior Practitioner, you will deputise for the Fostering Manager where required, and be responsible for supervising professional staff. You will develop high quality learning and development activities both for employees and foster carers. You will hold a reduced caseload. Applicants should have:
In return we offer:
This role is in a developing team which will provide you with an opportunity to develop positive links and relationships across the Easter Region and the organization. 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. 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 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 online application must include a full supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification. For the full Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here. For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk Closing Date: 21 Feb 2021 (Applications will be reviewed as received) Interview Date: 01 March 2021 Full details and application documents here  Location: Fostering Chelmsford Contract Type: Permanent Closing Date: 21 February 2021 Salary: Salary £30,000 - £41,000 per annum depending on experience Specific Hours: 37.5 hours per week Due to current situation, this role will be home based. Any face to face work with carers or children only occurs in relation to safeguarding and under government guidance.
We have a fantastic opportunity to join our friendly team and a growing fostering service in Chelmsford where your skills will flourish, and you will be able to contribute to achieving positive results for young people. About Us St Christopher's is an established children’s charity that has provided care and support for vulnerable children and young people for 150 years. Our focus and commitment is all about our children and young people. We provide fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative housing and support services across London, Essex, 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 children and 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 children and young people to bring out their inner “diamond”. We are an equal opportunity employer and keen to develop an inclusive workforce were people feel they belong. We hope to attract application’s from under- represented groups including people from different cultures, nationalities, socio economic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religion, faith, sex, orientation, child care responsibilities and with gender diverse identities. About the Role As a Senior Practitioner, you will deputise for the Fostering Manager where required, and be responsible for supervising professional staff. You will develop high quality learning and development activities both for employees and foster carers. You will hold a reduced caseload. Applicants should have:
In return we offer:
This role is in a developing team which will provide you with an opportunity to develop positive links and relationships across the Easter Region and the organization. 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. 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 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 online application must include a full supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification. For the full Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here. For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk Closing Date: 21 Feb 2021 (Applications will be reviewed as received) Interview Date: 01 March 2021 Full details and application documents here  Location: Fostering Chelmsford Contract Type: Permanent Closing Date: 21 February 2021 Salary: Salary £30,000 - £41,000 per annum depending on experience Specific Hours: 37.5 hours per week Remote home working Due to current situation, this role will be home based. Any face to face work with carers or children only occurs in relation to safeguarding and under government guidance.
We have a fantastic opportunity to join our friendly team and a growing fostering service in Chelmsford where your skills will flourish, and you will be able to contribute to achieving positive results for young people. About Us St Christopher's is an established children’s charity that has provided care and support for vulnerable children and young people for 150 years. Our focus and commitment is all about our children and young people. We provide fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative housing and support services across London, Essex, 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 children and 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 children and young people to bring out their inner “diamond”. We are an equal opportunity employer and keen to develop an inclusive workforce were people feel they belong. We hope to attract application’s from under- represented groups including people from different cultures, nationalities, socio economic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religion, faith, sex, orientation, child care responsibilities and with gender diverse identities. About the Role As a Senior Practitioner, you will deputise for the Fostering Manager where required, and be responsible for supervising professional staff. You will develop high quality learning and development activities both for employees and foster carers. You will hold a reduced caseload. Applicants should have:
In return we offer:
This role is in a developing team which will provide you with an opportunity to develop positive links and relationships across the Easter Region and the organization. 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. 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 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 online application must include a full supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification. For the full Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here. For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk Closing Date: 21 Feb 2021 (Applications will be reviewed as received) Interview Date: 01 March 2021 Full details and application documents here |
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