We are a leading independent fostering agency (part of National Fostering Group) providing children and young people across central England with nurturing and loving homes. Our aim is to enable them to reach their full potential and have a happy and healthy start in life.
Address
1 Maple Court
Ash Lane
Northampton
NN4 0NB
Phone number
General email
Opening Hours
Alliance Foster Care is always looking for kind-hearted and understanding people to join our fostering family in Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Peterborough and Cambridgeshire. We currently have more than 60 foster carers and 90 foster children.
We offer a variety of different placements, ranging from short-term foster care (lasting for a few days to a couple of years) through to refugee and unaccompanied children and young people. This emphasises our dedication to ensuring that children of all backgrounds are given the opportunities in life that they are entitled to.
Alliance Foster Care’s unwavering support to foster carers and the children we care for has seen us inspire brighter futures for many years. We have been rated OUTSTANDING by Ofsted in all three separate inspections over the last 10 years. We’ve also exceeded many of the National Fostering Standards requirements.
“We’re always there for our carers. If any of them experience problems, we go above and beyond to support them. We know them all personally. If they ring out of hours, whoever is answering the phone knows them. We pride ourselves on a very personalised service.”
Amanda Carter, Regional Manager
Our foster carers can claim a wide range of perks and benefits, like free membership to The Fostering Network, Max Cards,high street discounts, invitations to family activities and events, and much more.
Our team is committed to helping you provide the highest possible standards of care to foster children and young people, as well as offering the best possible support to our dedicated team of foster carers and families.
The team at Alliance Foster Care is proud of achieving three Outstanding Ofsted inspections in five years. Registered Manager Amanda Carter puts this down to the high levels of support offered to foster carers and looked after children.
Foster families are visited at least every four weeks by their allocated supervising social worker (SSW) and receive additional phone or email support whenever they need it. An SSW is available to respond to enquiries 24/7, with back-up from one of the managers.
Our continued provision of high-quality foster care is made possible by working closely with our passionate foster carers. We guide them through personal training plans and encourage attendance of local support groups including those found in Corby, Northampton, Bedford, Peterborough and Cambridge. Foster carer buddies are allocated to anyone who wants them, providing informal local support.
We help our foster carers provide children in their care with the best chance of learning coping strategies and adapting to life after a traumatic past. Access to therapeutic services represents an increasingly important part of the ‘wraparound’ care service we offer foster children who have been through periods of trauma or neglect in the past.
This is made possible through a psychotherapist based in our office, who delivers direct consultations for our foster carers when they want to help improve a child’s emotional wellbeing. The psychotherapist also delivers regular training to our foster carers, with an emphasis on trauma and attachment issues.
“Every month, we name one carer as an Everyday Hero and present them with a voucher and certificate. There are two Little Heroes awards for the kids. We want them all to know how much we value them.”
Amanda Carter, Regional Manager
Alliance has lots of groups and events for carers. These range from weekly Coffee and Catch-Up sessions, spring and summer events through to Christmas parties and award ceremonies. Last year’s ‘All the fun of the Fair’ themed barbecue was attended by over 100 people.
Two family support workers organise a whole range of events, from a Youth Councils, Virtual Storytime through to the Independence Project for 14-18-year olds, which provides vital life skills such as first aid, basic food hygiene and wellbeing.
Having worked as a manager of a placements team in a local authority, Amanda the Registered Manager observed how important it is for young people to build upon a solid foundation of independence skills and has implemented the Independence Project to support this.
At the Youth Council, we listen to children’s views and obtain feedback in order to shape how we deliver support to our carers and children. In addition, a foster carer committee holds bi-monthly meetings to discuss all aspects of the business, from events to recruitment and the foster carers support the development of the service.
