Team Fostering is a not for profit fostering agency, with an annual turnover of over £9m, based in the North East, Yorkshire & the East Midlands. We have been successfully supporting children & young people living in foster care to achieve positive outcomes since 2001.
​
We are now looking for Non-Executive Directors, based within this geographical footprint, who have senior-level knowledge, experience & expertise in the foster care sector and more specifically from within the independent fostering sector. We require candidates who can sign up fully to the ethical & not for profit stance which underpins all that we do to make a positive difference to the lives of children & young people.
The successful candidate(s) will also provide a creative contribution to the Board via objective criticism and independent judgement on issues of strategy, performance and resourcing of the agency, including involvement in key appointments & standards of conduct.

The post holder(s) will be independent of any of the company’s interested parties and bring a degree of objectivity & impartiality to the Board’s deliberations and play a valuable role monitoring executive management.

This is a part time role requiring, as a minimum, 30 day’s work per year and a minimum of 1.5 days worked each month equating to £13,335.75 per annum.  Part of this monthly commitment is attendance at a monthly Board meeting which may be held in one of our North Shields, Middlesbrough, Leeds, Sheffield or South Normanton offices. Other responsibilities and pieces of work taken on, at the direction of the Board, are paid at an hourly rate of £59.27. 

The closing date for application for this role is 9am on Monday 13 July 2020 and interviews are scheduled for Thursday 30 July 2020.

For further information, please ring Alex Cooper, Retained Consultant on 0191 653 1049

To apply, please complete an Application Form and Equal Opportunities Form (available below) and return to hr@teamfostering.co.uk no later than 9am on Monday 13 July 2020.

Please note Team Fostering does not accept CVs.

Full details and application documents here

At Team Fostering, we recruit and train foster carers that are able to look after a range of children and young people, including young people who have recently had their own children.

This is a specialist type of fostering referred to across the industry as 'Parent and Child Fostering,' the aim of which is to provide support and guidance not only to the infant but also the parent, usually the mother. The aim is that the parent may eventually provide independent care for their child. Parent and Child Fostering is an alternative to referring young parents to live in residential units and it helps to provide the support needed at the early stages of their relationship, a very crucial time for bonding. Without this support, such relationships can often break down and this could lead to the separation of the child from the parent.

The Benefits of Parent and Child Fostering
Fostering a parent and child is not an easy task, but the rewards are huge and we have many foster carers at Team Fostering with specialist training for the role. Foster carers can help the development of a bond between parent and child, giving both a brighter future, and to see an attachment grow first-hand has been described by our foster carers as nothing short of amazing. Throughout Parent and Child Fostering, carers offer support that provides young parents with insight into the lifelong parenting skills required for looking after a child independently. This is done in a stable environment that helps keep focus on the child, with access to valuable resources that may not have been available without the fostering setup. 

In turn, the child of the young person benefits from extra support received by all, providing them with the best start in life.

As Team Fostering consider Parent and Child Fostering to be a specialist role we provide a slightly different support package for those who offer this. A higher level of one-to-one support and training will be provided to any foster carers that look after a parent and child, and higher foster carer fees are paid in comparison to some other types of fostering. 

Team Fostering is an independent, not-for-profit fostering agency operating across the North East, Yorkshire and East Midlands. We have strong, ethical values and behaviours and continually look to welcome new foster carers to the team. Read our eligibility criteria by clicking here.

If you're interested in learning more about fostering, you can get in touch in one of the following ways:

call us on 0800 292 2003
send an online enquiry by clicking here
email us via info@teamfostering.co.uk
 
Our offices are in North Tyneside, Middlesbrough, Leeds, Sheffield and South Normanton.

Source:
www.teamfostering.co.uk

For quite a while now here at Team Fostering, we’ve been considering our impact on the wider world, especially with consideration to environmental issues; a concern close to the hearts of many of the young people we work with. We asked Non-Executive Director Walter Young to discuss the changes we are making as an agency to respond to this.
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“Team Fostering’s purpose and values have always been summed up in four words: Putting children’s futures first. Over the years we’ve become increasingly aware that the one thing that is putting children’s futures at risk more than anything else is climate change. Global warming is already affecting our environment, health, food supply, economy and security. If we do not take action, the effects will be far worse in the future.

What can one organisation do about this? The Directors of Team Fostering have listened to the views of children and young people via the Eco Task Force, as well as suggestions and actions from employees and others. We have explored what changes could make the most difference in the shortest time, and whilst the challenge still feels overwhelming, we believe that we can at least ensure that the agency operates on a carbon-neutral basis.

For example, one of the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis has been to make every meeting a virtual one, using video conferencing instead of meeting face-to-face. We’ve learned that it’s often possible to share information and make decisions without travelling to attend a meeting. In the future, we will cut our carbon footprint by making much more use of virtual meetings. Over the next few months, it is our intention to go through everything we have learned from the current crisis and work out how we can use that learning to make Team Fostering a better and more environmentally efficient organisation.

As well as reducing our carbon impact by burning less fossil fuel, we can mitigate it by supporting the creation of forests in the UK. We are investing in this financially in partnership with Forest Carbon, an organisation that has already planted 7 million trees in the UK, in woodlands independently audited and certified under the UK Woodland Carbon Code. By supporting the creating of UK woodlands, we are helping to capture CO2 as well as delivering other benefits for biodiversity, landscape, flood management, water quality and recreation.

We are currently creating our next 3-year strategic plan, which will cover the period 2021-2024. One of Team Fostering’s strategic objectives will be about ensuring an effective response to climate change, particularly reducing our output of greenhouse gases. This will lead to further initiatives and changes in our behaviour that we cannot necessarily predict today. Our approach to this needs to be about continuous improvement, not just a one-off change.

Everyone can do their bit in trying to reduce the impact of climate change. Rather than feeling helpless or hoping someone else will sort it out, we believe that even the efforts of one organisation are worthwhile and will make a difference."

To help Team Fostering continue making a difference to the lives of many more young people, you can contact us in the following ways:

send an online enquiry by clicking here
call us on 0800 292 2003
email us via info@teamfostering.co.uk

One of the undeniable things about caring for children during lockdown has been the need to keep them occupied and active, often alongside many other household commitments.

When schools closed completely at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, this meant that many parents and carers encountered a whole new set of challenges, having to provide routine, teaching, play and more to young people who were used to the structure of a school day.
To ensure that that this went smoothly and that our Team Fostering carers had the support they needed during this time, our brilliant Education and Support Service worked hard to move the work they do online, as Steve Elliff, Education and Support Service Manager (Yorkshire and East Midlands) explains; “We deliver most of our support face to face, so lockdown has been a bit of a challenge! In the early stages of lockdown, we tried to support our carers as they adjusted to home schooling, with a host of links, suggestions and ideas for how to keep children busy.  For some of our children, engaging in schoolwork at home has gone really well, but for others this has been particularly tricky.“

Lisa Leggatt, Education and Support Service Manager (North East) continues: “The Education and Support Service has continued to provide the support our children and carers expect from us; albeit in a different way.”

“Every week we’ve been posting activities to keep our children and young people of all ages entertained and learning. We found that we didn’t need to keep posting curriculum-based learning activities as schools were doing this, we could just concentrate on the fun stuff. Many of our young people and carers have sent in photographs of what they are getting up to in the lockdown period; their creativity and imagination never ceases to amaze me.”

A large part of the Education and Support Service’s face to face work includes their monthly Life Skills sessions – they include cooking a meal together followed by a short group session on a topic related to independence. As Steve explains: “We contacted some of our young people who attend these sessions and worked with them to come up with an online version of life skills delivered through Microsoft Teams.  Friendship is a key part of the life skills group, so the final format included 15 minutes of socialising at the start, a 30 minute life skill session, followed by a 15 minute game at the end.” Topics included health and wellbeing, budgeting, workplace advice and registering with a GP, and they even managed to include some baking in the virtual sessions too!

There’s been the opportunity to have some more targeted support for many of our young people as well. As Lisa recounts, “Some young people need some direct support while being home schooled. We are still ‘meeting’ these young people one to one via video link and thanks to the help from our fabulous IT guru Dave this is going really well. I can share my screen which we can use like a whiteboard you would see in any classroom across the country. So far we have delivered sessions on; science, maths, GCSE poetry, French, RE and history.”

With the help of digital tools, a ton of adaptability and a lot of creativity, the Education and Support Service has met the challenges of providing development and support to the children and young people we work with, head on. The service will continue to provide guidance and advice to the foster carers supporting these young people through this complicated time, and we look forward to being able to combine our diverse programme of face to face activities with our new virtual sessions in future.

To learn more about becoming a foster carer with us, you can contact us by:

Submitting an online enquiry form here
Calling us on 0800 292 2003
Emailing info@teamfostering.co.uk

Source: 
www.teamfostering.co.uk

Over the course of Foster Care Fortnight this year, we’ve been taking some time to think about what all the different parts of fostering mean to us here at Team Fostering; from our recruitment team who introduce potential foster carers to the agency; our fantastic social workers who support our existing foster carers to provide safe, stable homes for young people; to our extremely valuable foster carers, who help us put children at the centre of the work we do. 

Through the whole agency, we have a great number of people in many different roles who each play their own important part in the fostering process – and today, we want to throw a spotlight on that.

Our goals, as a not-for-profit independent fostering agency, would be impossible to achieve without our staff working together to provide guidance and support to our children, carers and each other. We’ve worked hard to stay connected in many new ways– with group video calls, online training and one to one support taking place on a daily basis.  

As Team Fostering CEO Jane Butler explains, “All of our amazing staff play a major part in supporting our foster families, it’s a real team effort and together we make a big difference to children’s futures. It’s a privilege to be able to work alongside such a fantastic group of people.”

Allison Poyzer, Placements Officer continues: “My colleagues at Team Fostering are the best I have ever worked with. Always there is a friendly smile, an encouraging word, a supportive hug. I arrived at Team Fostering a stranger and 6 years later have friends for life.”

Rachael Johnson, Assistant Director (North East) echoes this: “I really value the people I work with at Team Fostering, both staff and carers. I absolutely believe that we are all part of Team Fostering because we want the best for children and young people. There is a real sense of pride in belonging to an agency that can honestly say that putting children’s futures first is at the heart of everything we do.”

Don’t just take our word for it though, our foster carers value working with us just as much, as Catherine says: “Working with Team Fostering is great. It’s a caring and supportive organisation, one I really believe has children and foster carers as their top priority. They go above and beyond when you need support in hard times, and they’re fun!”

The sense of community at Team Fostering is a driving force behind our work, so wrap up our Foster Care Fortnight, we asked our team to share what Team Fostering means to them – watch our video

If you'd like to learn more about becoming a foster carer with Team Fostering, you can contact us in the following ways:

send an online enquiry by clicking here
call us on 0800 292 2003
email us via info@teamfostering.co.uk

Source:
www.teamfostering.co.uk

Foster Care Fortnight takes place every year as a celebration of the extremely valuable contributions that everyone involved in the fostering sector makes. From 11 to 24 May this year, we’re joining with our fellow fostering organisations to make a noise about our carers, our staff and the young people that keep pushing us all onwards to support and develop their futures. This year’s theme is #ThisIsFostering, which aims to give a fully rounded view of the foster care experience.

Our foster carers are a vitally important part of everything we do – without their hard work, patience, compassion and resilience, we wouldn’t be able to provide safe and stable homes for many of the vulnerable young people we work with. We work collaboratively with our foster carers to ensure they have the training, the support, and the advice they need to provide the best possible outcomes for our Looked After children.

But what does fostering mean to our foster carers? It’s often challenging, but also can be the most rewarding thing that our foster carers do. We asked some of our brilliant carers to discuss, in their own words, their honest view of the work they do.

Kirsty and Philip explain: ‘It’s hard at the moment with COVID-19; it’s been our biggest challenge.  It's been difficult trying to keep the children into a routine at times, while we also have to deal with additional needs made more difficult during lock down. Team Fostering have been with us during every day of this and have supported every decision we've made.”

“Our supervising social worker has been a constant throughout the placement, always being there to support us whenever we've needed it, more often than not outside of hours. “

There’s also a lot to be learned from fostering, as Lindsay and Barry explain “Time does heal, although not fully, but you can make changes, simple but important ones that will have a positive impact on children’s lives. We now have a young man that is on Staying Put whom has made huge progress and we never expected it.  He is now at college full time, in his second year and doing brilliantly. “

They continue, “Watching a child blossom and see that they are worthy, being able to observe their self-esteem and self-worth build up, to make decisions for themselves, without us having to make decisions for them is one of the best things we see. They learn that they do deserve to be loved and cared for and well nurtured. ‘

Karl and Maria echo this, “There’s not just one best moment in fostering, but far too many to mention. Seeing the children accomplish simple things from learning to ride bikes, swim and speak fluent English to name a few. Definitely seeing the children happy makes it worthwhile.’

Team Fostering are always looking for new foster carers, especially now while many children are stuck in difficult home situations during lockdown – if you’re interested in making a difference to a young person’s life, get in touch to take the first step on your fostering journey.

Source:
www.teamfostering.co.uk

As the uncertainty continues about when the world will ‘get back to normal’, we are learning to adapt to this ever-changing situation. Working in fostering, adaptability is hugely important for our work, but it's now become an integral part of our day to day.

For Foster Care Fortnight 2020, we asked Allison Poyzer, Placements Officer at Team Fostering to talk about how our flexibility and resilience has powered us through the lockdown period.

“It was no surprise that staff at Team Fostering have risen to the challenge of this change to working practices and there has been very little, if any, disruption to services. We are business as usual, albeit a bit different!

Staff are working from home who have previously only ever been office based, meetings and support sessions are taking place via video call rather than face to face and the importance of communication has never been more evident since our offices closed and those updates we would get while making a morning cup of tea are no longer happening.

In the past couple of months, both staff and foster carers have become well acquainted with ‘home schooling’. It is fantastic that Team Fostering are able to provide support while our young people are out of school. As the guidelines suggest, Looked After young people are still able to attend school but if carers decide it is in the young person’s and family’s best interest for them to stay home then we would absolutely support their decision. Our Education Support Service provides regular ideas and activities for children of all ages. They have also been providing guidance on explaining this very complex and unprecedented situation to our young people as well as looking at ways to support the mental health of our young people.

As parents, we may have been questioning our effectiveness as ‘teachers’, wondering if we are getting it right. It is difficult but try not to worry about children ‘falling behind’. Every child is in the same position and they will be OK. Learning occurs in all sorts of ways, not just sat in a classroom. The most important thing is to stay safe and give yourself a break… we are all finding our way through this as best we can.

So, as we settle into our new version of ‘normal’ and adapt to the innovative and different ways of working, it is likely that we will look back on this time and think, wow! How did we get through that?! We will laugh at the unusual video call meetings that have been interrupted by our children requiring breakfast or a cat wandering in front of the monitor or the parrot giving a running commentary on what the dog is up to. We will be amazed that we would set an alarm for 3am to try and book an online Click and Collect slot for our weekly shop.

We will rejoice in our resilience to rise to the challenge. We will marvel at our ability to adapt and be flexible to our situation. We will remember with fondness how we pulled together as a team and helped each other. At Team Fostering, we’ll remember the sense of community we created through group chats, video calls and friendly check-ins here and there. We’ll remind ourselves of the work we did to ensure that our carers, young people and our colleagues always felt supported throughout this time.

With whatever challenge has come our way (and there’s certainly been a few) Team Fostering has responded with hard work, perseverance, flexibility, and always keeping children at the centre of everything we do.  

Team Fostering is a not-for-profit fostering agency covering the North East, Yorkshire and East Midlands. To learn more about joining us a as a foster carer, and to learn about the training, fees and support you'd receive, you can reach us in the following ways:

Call us on 0800 292 2003
Email us via info@teamfostering.co.uk
Submit an online enquiry form by clicking here

Source:
www.teamfostering.co.uk

Team Fostering is an ethical not for profit fostering agency with a strong reputation and proven track record for providing high quality, value for money fostering placements for looked after children. We pride ourselves on our values and we expect our staff to commit to and demonstrate these values in their everyday work.

We are looking for an outstanding and committed Team Manager to join us, managing the provision and development of our fostering service in the Yorkshire & East Midlands region and successfully deliver new opportunities to enhance our agency.

The post holder will be responsible for the day to day management of the team of Supervising Social Workers in our Sheffield office. Working as an integral member of the management team, you will have a sound knowledge of current legislation, including regulations, guidance and standards, and will work to promote our ethical not for profit status. An understanding of the role of Independent Fostering Providers and their relationship with local authorities is essential.

Above all, you will have excellent leadership, strategic vision, communication and interpersonal skills and be hardworking, positive, and motivated to improve outcomes for looked after children.

The post is based in Sheffield however there will be a requirement to travel to our other Team Fostering offices in Yorkshire & East Midlands and the North East.

For an informal chat about the post please contact Kathleen Walley, Assistant Director, on 07717 762125

To apply, please complete an Application Form and Equal Opportunities Form (available below) and return via email to hr@teamfostering.co.uk no later than 12pm on 4 May 2020. 

Please note Team Fostering does not accept CV’s.

All posts require Enhanced DBS Disclosure 

Closing date: 12 pm on Monday 4 May 2020
Interviews will be held in our Sheffield office or virtually on Monday 18 May 2020

Please note if you are shortlisted for interview we will contact you via the email you have provided. Please ensure you check your emails regularly.

Thank you for your interest in Team Fostering and taking the time to apply for this position. 

Full details and application documents here.

​Here at Team Fostering, we’re aware that it’s a troubling time for everyone, including our children and young people, our foster carers, our staff and our many colleagues in other organisations. We’re conscious that at this moment, when so much is fluctuating in our day to day worlds, any stability we can provide at this time is appreciated.

While we're being advised to stay at home, many vulnerable children and young people remain in uncertain, unstable home situations. By becoming a foster carer, you can help improve the lives of the young people we work with.

We’re aware that at the moment, although you may be considering becoming a foster carer, you may be unsure if it’s the right thing to progress with at this time – please do get in touch, our expert team are here to chat through any questions and concerns you might have, and help you take the first step on your foster care journey. 

We will continue to recruit our prospective foster carers on an ongoing basis, and we are adapting our recruitment process using telephone, video calling and other technology to help us progress applications where appropriate. We are also introducing an Online Application Form to simplify the recruitment process further. 

Team Fostering is committed to providing continuity of service to all our children, carers, staff and others during the Coronavirus outbreak, and we are putting resources in place which will support us to do this.  We have now moved to working from home for all of our staff members to support social distancing measures, but we continue to operate as normal – you can still reach us on our central office telephone numbers, and 24/7 cover will remain in place with our Supervisory Social Workers throughout this time.

Planning is taking place to consider the best way to undertake important meetings with our carers, using technology and telephone, and we are looking at how we can best facilitate events including fostering panels in other ways.

All other processes will proceed as usual, with any necessary adjustments required. We are aware that the current COVID-19 situation is constantly changing, and we will remain adaptable to any updates we receive, while striving to provide a consistent service to those we work with.

We wish you good health.

Team Fostering is an independent, not-for-profit fostering agency operating across the North East, Yorkshire and East Midlands. We have strong, ethical values and behaviours and continually look to welcome new foster carers to the team. Read our eligibility criteria by clicking here.

If you're interested in learning more about fostering, you can get in touch in one of the following ways:

call us on 0800 292 2003
send an online enquiry by clicking here
email us via info@teamfostering.co.uk

Source:
www.teamfostering.co.uk

Team Fostering is a not for profit fostering agency, with an annual turnover of over £9m, based in the North East, Yorkshire & the East Midlands. We have been successfully supporting children & young people living in foster care to achieve positive outcomes since 2001.
​
We are now looking for two Non-Executive Directors, based within this geographical footprint, who have senior-level knowledge, experience & expertise in the foster care sector. We require candidates who can sign up fully to the ethical & not for profit stance which underpins all that we do to make a positive difference to the lives of children & young people.

The successful candidate(s) will also provide a creative contribution to the Board via objective criticism and independent judgement on issues of strategy, performance and resourcing of the agency, including involvement in key appointments & standards of conduct.

The post holder(s) will be independent of any of the company’s interested parties and bring a degree of objectivity & impartiality to the Board’s deliberations and play a valuable role monitoring executive management.

This is a part time role requiring, as a minimum, 30 days work per year and a minimum of 1.5 days worked each month equating to £13,335.75 per annum.  Part of this monthly commitment is attendance at a monthly Board meeting which may be held in one of our North Shields, Middlesbrough, Leeds, Sheffield or South Normanton offices. Other responsibilities and pieces of work taken on, at the direction of the Board, are paid at an hourly rate of £59.27.  

For further information, please ring Alex Cooper, Retained Consultant on 0191 653 1049

To apply, please complete an Application Form and Equal Opportunities Form (available here) and return to hr@teamfostering.co.uk no later than 9am on Friday 1st May.

Please note Team Fostering does not accept CVs.

All posts are subject to Enhanced DBS Disclosure

Closing Date: 9.00 am on Friday 1 May 2020

Interviews will be held on: Wednesday 20 May 2020 at our Middlesbrough office.

Please note if you are shortlisted for interview we will contact you via the email you have provided.   Please ensure you check your emails regularly.

Thank you for your interest in Team Fostering and taking the time to apply for this position. 

 Full details and application documents here