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National Fostering Agency North West

NFA North West covers the whole of the North West region, from North Lancashire and South Cumbria down to Cheshire and the Welsh Borders. We currently work with over 130 foster carers and over 200 children.

Office Details

Thousands of young people in the North West rely on the love and support of dedicated foster families. Start your fostering journey with the NFA today, and start making a difference to vulnerable children in your area.

Address
Ground Floor, 920 Birchwood Boulevard
Warrington
Birchwood
WA3 7QS

Phone number
01925 286850

General email
[email protected]

Social Media

Opening Hours

  • Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm
  • Sat & Sun Closed

Our registered office in Warrington and we serve 21 local authorities. Despite the large area we cover, we offer local support groups and training at local venues to foster carers. Our Helping Hands service provides invaluable peer support and we have two full-time sessional support workers who work with young people.

“The NFA Events Committee which is made up of children and young people we care for, our foster carers, NFA staff and children who live in a fostering family worked together to develop and coordinate a fun packed calendar of events for the year for all our families to take part in, this has included a trip to the zoo, a day at Crocky Trail, Jumpnation and many many more.

We also hold each year a Children’s Award Ceremony to celebrate and congratulate the children and young people of their achievements, this is a fun filled afternoon with a disco, face painting, quizzes.

We look forward to our Events committee working together to plan our activities for 2024!”

Michelle Davies, Registered Manager

OFSTED report

Download our reports
We have informative guides for children and young people aged between 5 - 10 and 11 - 18 you may find interesting.

Children and young people participation

NFA recently appointed a youth ambassador, as foster children and children who foster all play a key role in shaping policy and procedures. They are part of the panel for interviewing new social workers, attend regular events, and are planning to create their own newsletter. We hold regular events and activities for both children who are looked after and children who foster.

Support

Our team – consisting of the registered manager, two team managers, two advanced practitioners and 12 social workers – provides 24-hour, consistent support. We have highly experienced staff from a range of different backgrounds, including child protection, so foster carers benefit from working with people who have fully-rounded knowledge and experience. Two therapists provide group and individual support sessions for foster carers.

Above and beyond

Our foster carers particularly value the support they receive from their social workers and the close working relationships that develop as a result. During times of crisis or challenge, the team often goes above and beyond to support its fostering families. They might agree to visit during the evening or at weekends, for example, making themselves available to provide help, support, or simply to listen. 

During lockdown, for example, social workers helped foster carers with shopping and held socially-distanced conversations on their driveway to ensure that people were coping and their needs were met.

Core values

We see our primary role as being to meet the needs of children and young people in whatever way we can. To ensure we deliver this, we focus on treating our foster carers as professionals and equals, making sure they are well cared for and have access to all the support and training they need. 

Any problems are dealt with quickly and we are committed to learning lessons if things go wrong. A carer forum gives foster carers the opportunity to raise issues and discuss anything bothering them and we listen and respond wherever possible.

National Fostering Agency North West works in close collaboration with local authorities, advocating for them and doing whatever it can to raise their profile and the profile of fostering.

Good practice

Being part of the National Fostering Group enables us to share good practice and consult with other registered managers if we need to. Our children and young people benefit from access to schemes like the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and Britannica, which would not be possible within a smaller agency. For foster carers, the National Fostering Group offers a broader range of support and training; for example if there is no dedicated support group within their area, they can access groups run by the National Fostering Group.

Meet our team

Office Updates

  • The agency with carers recently attending a water park and paintballing sessions. These events provide both our carers and their children to have fun, relax and enjoy what is on offer in our beautiful region
  • In the Northwest at NFA we have been running an Introduction to Counselling Skills, Level 2 course which allowed participants to gain a formal qualification from the counselling and psychotherapy central awarding body (CPCAB). The course was taught by Nicky Saggerson, Psychotherapist. The 10-week course has now come to an end, and we took the opportunity to congratulate Foster Carers and Staff on gaining their qualifications by holding a celebratory lunch and small graduation celebration to mark this achievement. The course was a great success and feedback from participants was extremely positive. One person reported the thing they most enjoyed about the course was, "The group of people I was on the course with and how much I have learnt about myself and what it means to truly listen and hear someone." When asked if they would recommend the course one carer reported; "Yes, I would say it is really interesting what you learn about yourself on the course and how past experiences shape us as humans." The course looks at all aspects of active listening as well as considering how our life experiences have shaped us and our view of the world, ourselves, and other people. We’re looking forward to offering the course again soon.
  • Alison our carer shared how her two young people had been shining stars in lockdown by volunteering in the local community. They both helped a local group by preparing, making and delivering food to over 65 year old’s and vulnerable people. Each Friday for three month they prepared meals such as salads, rice and beans, spiced chicken, yam’s and deserts. Their young person was already a keen cook and this gave him the skills to learn about how to cook meals from different countries. Both children even appeared on BBC news and in the local paper which helped the group generation new donations. Alison was very proud of the young people in her care.
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