Alliance Foster care looks to recruit foster carers who can provide a high level of care to the children and young people that we care for. To better support our foster carers and provide young people with opportunities to improve educational attainment, develop life skills, prepare for adult life or receive therapeutic support this year we have expanded the services that we provide.
We have a program of additional services that run 52 weeks a year from the Alliance Hub. The Hub is staffed by experienced staff who have a wealth of experience working with children and young people living in foster families. The team includes a social worker, youth worker, support worker, teacher, psychotherapist, all of whom have experience of working in social care, education and youth services.
We use the Hub to deliver a number of workshops and Group work that include: Sexual Health, Protective Behaviours, Being Healthy and Staying Safe. In addition, we invite a community based groups to come and talk to young people about a range of topics including Drug Awareness, Child Exploitation, Staying safe on Line. Young people receive a certificate of attendance for all our workshops which they can use to support job or further education applications.
We recognise that we are very lucky to have our Hub, it’s such a great space to work with children and young people and an amazing base to host lots of social gatherings such as our Easter event where all of the Foster Carers and children came together for a day of fun.
The sun was shining and we all enjoyed an Easter egg hunt, games and a picnic on the large garden area that surrounds the office and Hub. Throughout the day there were 2 workshops running in the Alliance Hub; drumming and African mask painting. The drumming sessions were a great success with children able to let off some steam and make lots of creative noise. The craft workshop was a calm retreat where the children and young people spent time making beautiful African inspired masks with the help of a local artist, Mikki Longley, who joined the team for the day.
Everyone who attended was presented with an Easter egg from the team at the end of the day and there was the opportunity to win a prize by entering a poster competition. Children and young people were tasked with creating some art work which communicated ‘what makes me happy’. There were lots of fantastic entries, so many that it was decided that everyone was a winner and were awarded with a gift to thank them for all of the hard work and thought that was put into their entry.
To keep up our energy levels we had a huge buffet made up of everyone’s individual contributions – there was little left at the end of the day! The day was a huge success and a great opportunity for carers to come together. An Easter event was the perfect way to capture the fun, inclusive atmosphere that we feel is the heart of our Alliance family. A great introduction for a couple who were considering fostering. They had such a warm welcome that they decided that Alliance was the place for them and made the decision to join us as foster carers.
This is an extract from our 2017 Year Book, designed to take you through a year with Alliance Foster Care. To find out more and order a copy click here