The Foster Care Charity Providing Loving Homes for Children Since 1999 Here at FCC we are excited to be celebrating 25 years of fostering, helping care for the UK’s next generation of young people. At a time where one child enters the care system every fifteen minutes, now is the time for people to step forward and join us in doing something that will change lives – both their own and the children they care for. Since 1999, FCC, formerly the Foster Care Co-operative has provided loving homes to over 1,300 children, many of whom have stayed with their foster families through to adulthood. This shows the impact and lifelong bond that can be created within fostering families. Impressively, the average length of time a child remains with their FCC foster carers is over three years (significantly higher than the national average), which gives children the stability, care and love they need. This is only possible because of the amazing team of staff and carers who are dedicated to giving children and young people the platform to succeed. Click here to read the full article Foster carer Stephen inspires colleagues and friend in epic running challenge for children in care! Our Manchester-based foster carer, Stephen’s personal commitment to helping vulnerable children in care is inspirational. In fact two of his work colleagues and a friend are doing a gruelling running challenge to raise vital funds for our charity. Stephen, who works for construction firm Schofield and Sons, and his wife, Julie, from Greater Manchester, have been fostering with us for three years. In that time, they have provided a loving and caring home for six children. The couple’s fostering journey has deeply impacted those around them. And, it’s prompted Stephen’s colleagues Ben Scholes and Syabonga Mnembe (S’ya), alongside Phil Crampton, Ben’s brother-in-law, to take on the “496 Challenge” to raise £3,000 to help foster carers and families. Click here to read the full article Location: Gloucestershire/Bristol Remote Worker Salary Range: £31,707- £33,421 per annum* Role Type: Part time* 30 hours per week 4 days a week Monday-Thurs 9am-5pm Closing date: 29th July 2024 *dependent on experience. (£39,634-£41,777 per annum FTE)
We're seeking to recruit an experienced and enthusiastic Supervising Social Worker (SSW) to join our team covering Gloucestershire/Bristol, working 4 days a week primarily from home. There will be involvement in recruiting, assessing, supervising and supporting Foster Carers to support us in maintaining our quality fostering service for looked after children. The role involves recruitment of Foster Carers, travel to the homes of our Foster Carers as required (which will at times involve travelling longer distances), leading occasional projects, running and delivering training and support groups, and taking part in an ‘out of hours’ duty system (approximately 4 times a year). Applicants need to be able to take a flexible approach to working, have proven fostering experience (demonstrating significant experience of working within Children’s Services) and be able to demonstrate outstanding people, report writing, organisation and recording skills. Click here for full job details Hull-based Lee and Stewart are a married couple and dads to five children – aged from 2 to 16. As foster dads they feel they can give back to the community and make a difference to the lives of children and young people. “Fostering, it’s not just a job, we get to be dads 24/7!” As foster carers Stewart and Lee have the skills and compassion to help vulnerable children. Whether that means helping them ultimately reunite with their biological families or find a new forever home. “The pride we feel from watching children in our care grow is the most amazing thing.” Stewart says: “if fostering is ‘just a job’ then it’s the “best job in the world!” He continued, “we get to watch them grow, develop and become the people that they were meant to be, rather than them being defined by whatever issue caused them to have a rough start in life.” There’s always room for more in Stewart and Lee’s hearts and home. A family affair: involving the whole household Lee and Stewart knew that fostering couldn’t be a decision that they made solely as a pair and that they needed to involve the whole family. Lee says: “It’s important that our family is part of the process. They have to be happy and onboard because they’ve got to deal with the emotion too. Not just the emotions involved in children coming into our care, but children moving on. It’s a whole family process for us, it’s not just the two of us.” The couple say that their children have been an incredible asset in the fostering process. Lee continues: “To see our children interact with any children we’ve got in our care and how they take them under their wing and just treat them like they are any other sibling is wonderful and it’s amazing to see.” Find out more about Stewart & Lee’s experiences as foster dads Charlotte, Supervising Social Worker, talks about her role with the Foster Care Charity. So what does a Senior Supervising Social Worker do as part of an independent foster care agency? The days vary in terms of duties and responsibilities. In general they include visits with foster carers, completing monthly supervisions and Annual Reviews. I also attend meetings with the Local Authorities, such as PEPs and reviews and I am involved in recruitment activities to help people who are interested in becoming foster carers with The Foster Care Charity. What’s your background and experience?
Having worked for a few local Authorities over the years in Safeguarding and with Looked after Children, I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone. I joined The Foster Care Charity over 3 years ago. It has been the best decision for me on both a personal and a professional level. The thing I love most is that we all celebrate the positives, whether this be colleagues, foster carers or a child’s achievements. Above all else, I have always felt supported, listened to, valued and respected. What are the caseloads like? The Foster Care Charity certainly delivered in terms of my expectations; caseloads are allocated to ensure that they remain manageable. For me this has made a significant difference to my working life, it has allowed me the time to build strong positive relationships with foster carers and the children they care for. Placements do sometimes naturally break down, but there is the time available to prioritise supporting our foster carers through those difficult times, whether this be to stabilise the placement or to provide support whilst the child moves on. Tell us about a typical day for you The days vary in terms of duties and responsibilities. For example, last Friday I completed a home visit to new foster carers who I had recently assessed and were newly approved. They have just welcomed their first placement. This is obviously a challenging time but also lovely to hear their buzz of excitement. I then travelled 30 minutes down the road to undertake another visit to long standing foster carers, who shared with me their recent adventures they had been on with the young boy they care for. On returning home, I caught up on emails, contacted a CSW, and then started to write up the Monthly Placement Reports. This week I am home based and my main focus is ensuring all my paperwork is up to date. Senior Supervising Social Worker with FCC: This role is held by qualified social workers who have at least 4 year’s experience working within a Fostering Social Work field and experience of working with children and families. As an SSW they provide ongoing high-quality supervision and support to our foster carers through monthly supervision visits, support visits and telephone support as and when required. SSWs assist foster carers in identifying their training and development needs and ensuring that appropriate training is provided. SSWs also assist with the placement of children with foster carers in consultation with all relevant parties. Find out more about working for FCC and our specialist staff roles Source: https://fostercarecharity.org.uk/ Lego Based Therapy is a collaborative, play therapy/social developmental programme designed to aid, teach and promote social communication and social competence in a range of children and young people. It’s highly structured, systematic and predictable, making it extremely enticing to children and young people, particularly those who are attracted by routine and structure. Therapy sessions are run on a Lego club structure and usually last around 30 minutes. Who can benefit from Lego Based Therapy? This type of play therapy can benefit children and young people with autism or social communication difficulties, ADHD or attentional difficulties. You can also use it to help children with SEMH needs and social learning difficulties including anxiety, trauma, attachment, sensory, social adjustment. Who developed it? Lego Based Therapy was developed by Dr Dan Legoff over 2 decades ago, when he was working with two separate children who used Lego as a discussion tool. It is a tool that you can generalised and so it offers an effective, fun approach. The task of Lego building is divided up into different interdependent roles, interaction through both verbal and non-verbal communication is necessitated by the participation in the activity. Why choose this type of therapy? You will find that it can be generalized to outside situations. Lego Based Therapy is structured, and repetitive in nature. Through the play you open up discussion. During sessions you look at behaviour and the way it is communicated – what is the young person trying to tell you. In Lego Based Therapy you use modes & task ideas as well as collaborative working. Task ideas such as what children can build, how you can assess their development, and how they use each other for learning. What are Lego Club Roles? Key roles are The builder, The Engineer, The Parts Supplier, The Director. From these roles, you can help young people develop valuable skills such as listening, receptive language, expressive language, problem solving, confidence and resilience, peer interaction, turn taking, team work and leadership. The Lego Club structure is usually around a 30 minute session. A typical club session offers 10 minutes slots where you set up groups of 3 people work on a different role. You then have an adult checking in every 5-10 minutes to see how the play/build is progressing and who then offers a debrief and reward (feedback/certificate). A freestyle element can also be incorporated. You’ll find that many schools now offer Lego club/brick club activities. Find out more? Want to know more about Lego Based Therapy in the UK? Contact Keith Houghton: [email protected] Source: https://fostercarecharity.org.uk/ Job Opportunity with The Foster Care Charity: Senior Supervising Social Worker (SSW) - North West26/4/2024
Location: North West England (Remote) Salary: £31,707.20- £33,421.60 per annum dependent on experience Hours: 30 hours per week (4 days a week) Closing date: Wednesday 8th May 2024 12.00pm Interviews: 9th May 2024 We're seeking to recruit an experienced and enthusiastic Supervising Social Worker to join our North West England team, working 4 days a week primarily from home.
There will be involvement in recruiting, assessing, supervising and supporting Foster Carers to support us in maintaining our quality fostering service for looked after children. The role involves recruitment of foster carers, travel to the homes of our foster carers as required (which will at times involve travelling long distances), leading occasional projects, running and delivering training and support groups, and taking part in an ‘out of hours’ duty system (approximately 4 times a year). Applicants need to be able to take a flexible approach to working, have proven fostering experience (demonstrating significant experience of working within Children’s Services) and be able to demonstrate outstanding people, report writing, organisation and recording skills. Applicants must hold a Diploma or BA in Social Work (or equivalent Social Work qualification) and are required to be registered with Social Work England on commencement of employment. To allow our Social Workers to provide a thorough, personal and meaningful service to our fostering families, FCC believe that caseloads need to be manageable. We are a children’s charity, driven solely for the purpose of making a difference to children’s lives and place strong emphasis on our ‘people focused’ values. We seek to recruit the right person with the right skills and experience, with a flexible attitude to working hours, alongside someone who is able to demonstrate a commitment to our key values. Does this sound like you? If so, we would be delighted to hear from you. Further details and application documents here We celebrate our new chapter and charitable status with the appointment of Donna Jackman and Simon Egerton to our Board of Trustees, effective September 2023. And, we say goodbye to Elizabeth (Betty) Hutton who has stepped down from her role on our Board of Trustees. Established in 1999, The Foster Care Charity (formerly the Foster Care Co-operative) has been dedicated to placing children in nurturing family homes for more than two decades. As an independent not-for-profit foster care agency, The Foster Care Charity (FCC) operates with a commitment to reinvesting any surplus income. This approach ensures the provision of enhanced individual foster care support, facilitates the recruitment and training of additional foster carers, and helps contribute to the creation of stable, loving home environments for an increasing number of children. Our mission revolves around making a profound difference in the lives of children. We are unwavering in our commitment to providing the best possible fostering support, with the goal of fostering happiness and success. The appointment of Donna Jackman and Simon Egerton as Trustees marks a significant step forward for us. Donna’s extensive experience in strategic and operational leadership in Children and Family Services and Simon’s distinguished career as a Company Director, Magistrate and community leader align seamlessly with our charitable mission. “The Foster Care Charity is well known for being value driven and child centred, both aspects which resonate deeply with me. Along with my fellow Trustees, we are committed to helping make a real differences to children’s lives. The next chapter for the charity is going to be so innovative and I look forward to being involved,” said Donna Jackman, Trustee of The Foster Care Charity “The work of The Foster Care Charity is so important to the children and families it touches , I hope that my being a Trustee with the experience I can bring to the organisation will make that work all the more effective and successful,” said Simon Egerton, Trustee of The Foster Care Charity. Donna Jackman Simon Egerton Betty Hutton Elizabeth (Betty) Hutton, who played a pivotal role as an FCC Director and Company Secretary for the past 5 years helping in the transition from co-operative to charity status, is gratefully acknowledged for her dedicated service as she steps down from the Board of Trustees.
Betty says “So much positive change has taken place during my five years as part of the team of FCC, not least of all, our move to charity status. Although very saddened not to be in a position to continue, I have every confidence that, uAer excellent leadership and with the truly motivated workforce, together with existing and newly appointed Trustees, FCC is in a position for an exciting new phase. My friends at FCC are sure to keep me informed, so that I continue to share and enjoy the success story.” The Foster Care Charity is proud of its track record, with an average child placement length of over 3 years. With Donna and Simon joining our trusted board of advisers, we look forward to their invaluable contributions as we continue to pursue our organisation’s commitment to creating stable and nurturing environments for children across England and Wales. Source: https://fostercarecharity.org.uk/ if you are planning to give electronic gadgets to your children this year, or if you are simply aware of an increase of time spent online, check out these parent guides designed to help you keep kids safe in a digital world. “Online safety is when young people know who they can tell if they feel upset by something that has happened online.” Click The Title Below To Access Each Foster Parent Guide 1. A Parent’s Guide to Social Media 2. A Parent’s Guide to Gaming 3. A Parent’s Guide to Sharing Pictures 4. A Parent’s Guide to Online Influencers 5. A Parent’s Guide to Privacy Settings There are more online safety guides that foster carers and parents may find useful on the skips educational website. You can also find other support to help keep children safe online via the skips safety net site. If you are concerned with anything you or your child has seen or has been asked to do, ore guides Skips Safety Net offers sites to understand safe ways to seek support – find out more via this link: Skips Seek Support These guides were developed in collaboration with Home Office Prevent and West Midlands Police and Crime Commission as part of a vital way of keeping children safe online. Source: https://fostercarecharity.org.uk/ Salary: £46,927 – £50,726 per annum, pro rata* Location: Malvern, Worcestershire – Hybrid Working Hours: Part time – 22.5 – 25 hours per week (negotiable) Closing Date: 20th November 2023 Other Benefits Include: + 45p a mile travel, 33 days annual leave + bank holidays (pro rata), home working allowance, 10% employer contribution pension scheme.
FCC are excited to recruit an exceptional Finance Manager, who will be a key member of our management team, to join our successful charity. The role holder will work closely with the Senior Leadership Team and will be expected to be a strategic thinker, lead on key aspects of financial and resource planning and reporting, provide effective business partnering, analysis and decision support, and ensure that the finance team work as valued partners across the organisation in support of their work with foster carers and the children in their care. The Finance Manager, will provide leadership to the Finance team working as an enabler to the business, through ensuring effective practice and excellence in all areas based on our core values. The successful candidate will be a fully qualified accountant, with strategic overview, and operational delivery, of excellent practices in financial management. They will also be able to demonstrate collegiate leadership and management experience of a finance team, with a collaborative and flexible approach, be a strong team player, demonstrate excellent technical skills, and have strong experience of financial reporting and preparation of year end accounts. Ideally, but not essentially, the successful candidate will also have experience working within the charitable sector. FCC are a children’s charity, driven solely for the purpose of making a difference to children’s lives and place strong emphasise on our ‘people focused’ values. We seek to recruit the right person with the right skills and experience, with a flexible attitude to working hours, alongside someone who is able to demonstrate a commitment to our key values. Does this sound like you? If so, we would be delighted to hear from you. To discuss this role further, please contact: Barbara Bull – Head of HR/Deputy CEO, on 01684 892380. FCC is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the disclosures barring service. CVs will not be accepted; all applicants must complete an application form. FCC is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace, a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. Full details and application documents here |
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