 Welcome to our July edition of Fostering News. In this edition you will find news on a one-off thank you payment to foster carers, the date for our upcoming virtual Foster Carer and Staff Conference, a reminder about the next FLAG meeting, our usual training availability and some great opportunities for our children in care. Happy reading!
We're excited to confirm that the Council will be making one-off 'thank you' payments to all our permanent foster carers who have had placements during the pandemic. These payments are a gesture of thanks for your selfless efforts over the last year, and each fostering household will get over £300 from the approximate £100,000 fund allocated by the Council.
We know it has not been easy over the past 15 months and we are truly grateful for everything you do.
We have been very busy planning the 2021 virtual foster carer conference which we are pleased to announce will be held on Wednesday 15 September 2021 from 9.30am – 2.15pm via Microsoft Teams.
We will share the link to join the event nearer the time but please put this date in your diary in the meantime; we have a really engaging line up of guest speakers and workshops so we hope as many of you can make it as possible!
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An email was sent out to carers in June to confirm that the original date of this event had changed, but in case you missed it, the drive-in movie night has been rescheduled to Saturday 25 September with an earlier start time of 7pm.
If you had previously requested tickets with the original date then you do not need to book again.
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The next Fostering Liaison Advisory Group meeting will be on Monday 12 July at 7pm via Microsoft Teams.
This is a great opportunity for carers to hear service updates from both the group manager and fostering service manager, and to ask any questions relating to life as a foster carer for Nottinghamshire County Council.
If you would like the event forwarding as a full calendar invite please drop us an email and we can forward it on: fostering@nottscc.gov.uk
Otherwise, you can use the link below at the time of the event to join us.
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Do you care for a young person aged between 16 – 26?
If so, please tell them about Communi-tea, a weekly drop-in session in Mansfield where young people can get together for a game of pool or table tennis and seek 1:1 support from mentors who can help with skills such as CV building and job applications amongst other fun and informative activities. This is a great opportunity for young people who may be out of work or education to build their confidence and help them get to where they want to be.
To find the booking form and for more information please visit the website.
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A message from Fran Cryer, Supervising Social Worker, South Fostering Team:
"Sharon and Mark Payne have been foster carers for Nottinghamshire for 25 years this July.
"As experienced and knowledgeable carers, they have provided a home to numerous children who have mainly been of primary school age. Sharon and Mark have a helpful and understanding family and their two – now adult children, have also played a part in their success.
"They are currently caring for a young man who came to them aged seven. Now at eighteen their plan is to support him on a “Shared Lives” basis. This is alongside continuing to foster.
"As their Supervising Social Worker, I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation on behalf of those children whose lives they have made a real difference to.
"Thank you, Sharon and Mark."
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Please visit My Learning My Career to book onto the following courses which still have good availability:
- Two day course 3 & 4 November, 9am – 5pm
- 20 September
- 15 November
- plus 2022 dates are available
The fostering service would like to offer a warm welcome to Hugo Walters who joined the fostering panel team on 14 June as the new part-time panel manager/advisor. The team would also like to thank Helen Daft and Toni Martin for their assistance covering panel earlier in the year.
We would also like to wish Alison MacShane a very happy retirement after working for Nottinghamshire County Council for 25 years, 12 of which were spent in the fostering service. She leaves at the end of July and we wish her all the best for a long and happy retirement.
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