community

Wexbaby – a small business with a special story

Ettie is 30 years old and runs her own business: a children’s clothing line called Wexbaby. For Ettie, it is a way to celebrate her French roots and give back to her foster carers for all they have done for her and her sister Sally. Read her story here.

Care experience meets research - introducing a new podcast and their hosts

What does a media professional, who is a saxophonist and advocate for care experienced young people have in common with a PhD student, who graduated in experimental psychology and worked as a physics teacher?… A podcast. Sophia and Eva have recently launched Who cares about Research? – a podcast that makes social research more accessible. We have asked them why this is needed and what can be expected.

Launching in Lockdown

Every Mockingbird constellation is different, but the first task for the hub home carer and liaison worker is to begin building links and relationships in their constellation. This has become more challenging under lockdown restrictions, but Portsmouth found a way to spark enthusiasm.

A child arrives from overseas

We’ve all seen it on the news. We’ve watched the exodus of men, women and children with a mounting sense of horror and helplessness. We know that there are thousands upon thousands of children displaced from their homes and everything they’ve ever known. We know many of these children are on their own, traumatised, bewildered and afraid.

Marking a decade of togetherness

Jude Black has been a social worker for 40 years and currently works for the fostering team at Gloucestershire County Council. She created one of the first groups in England catering specifically for birth children of foster carers and has overseen its growth and development. The group is now well established and recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Safer Caring

Safer caring is the means by which foster carers can ensure the safety and well-being of children and young people. Because the business of foster caring happens in the home of the carer, safer caring also aims to protect the well being of carers and their families. It covers a broad range of themes, such as forming healthy attachments, dealing with difficult behaviour appropriately, ensuring the protection of each member of the household and minimising the risk of allegations made against carers.

It’s all child’s play

I get back from Calais absurdly happy to see my family and determined to see this fostering thing through to its conclusion, to its beginning.

The mighty jungle

This instalment of the blog should really come with a disclaimer. Somewhere here in bold text should be words to this effect: *The actions of this blogger in no way constitute a statutory requirement for the fostering of asylum seeking children* Check. The objective of this blog is to give a detailed account of the fostering application process and I promise that this is what I’ll do, but I’m taking a little detour this week, a voluntary detour, via Calais…

Preparing for Christmas as a foster carer