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Come and join us for a cuppa, cake and a chat with Foster Carers in your local area.

This is an informal support group where children are welcome to join. This is an opportunity to share your experiences and seek support and advice from our Supervising Social Workers or your fellow Foster Carers. There is plenty of parking available at the venue and toys available for children.

Please book in if you can attend and we look forwards to seeing you there! Rasheda and Jane

This is group ran by the FACs team to support foster carers own children. We realise that fostering can be difficult for your children and the important role they play in a fostering family.
This group is ran 4 times a year in different venues with different activities so your children can come along and met others who are part of a fostering family.
Our aim is to enable your children to talk freely and openly about their emotions regarding fostering, make new friends and have fun.
Although these will be informal meetings, each session will have a brief agenda, attendance list, and agreed group rules. This is to help those who don’t know anyone feel welcome and less awkward about coming along to a new meeting, also to feel that they won’t be left alone on the side-lines.
Sometimes there will be speakers and topics as requested by the group/children, this will hopefully make it as relevant and fun for your child/ren.

The Purpose for the support groups



We realise that fostering can be really difficult at times. Perhaps the only people who really understand it are other foster carers and so therefore we want to give you a place to meet up.

There will be biscuits and/or cake, coffee, tea, and an opportunity for an informal chat at all of the meetings.

Although these will be informal meetings, each session will have a brief agenda, attendance list, and agreed group rules. This is to help those who don’t know anyone and feel awkward about coming along to a new meeting, to feel that they won’t be left alone on the side-lines.

Sometimes there will be speakers and topics as requested by the group, this will hopefully make it as relevant to your fostering as you like.

These sessions should be recorded on your Personal Development Plan (PDP).

The Purpose for the support groups



We realise that fostering can be really difficult at times. Perhaps the only people who really understand it are other foster carers and so therefore we want to give you a place to meet up.

There will be biscuits and/or cake, coffee, tea, and an opportunity for an informal chat at all of the meetings.

Although these will be informal meetings, each session will have a brief agenda, attendance list, and agreed group rules. This is to help those who don’t know anyone and feel awkward about coming along to a new meeting, to feel that they won’t be left alone on the side-lines.

Sometimes there will be speakers and topics as requested by the group, this will hopefully make it as relevant to your fostering as you like.

These sessions should be recorded on your Personal Development Plan (PDP).

This support group will be led by Mike Ollive.

The Purpose for the support groups

We realise that fostering can be really difficult at times. Perhaps the only people who really understand it are other foster carers and so therefore we want to give you a place to meet up.

Please note that this support group will be taking place at Badminton Road Council Offices. There will be security on the door to let you in from 18:45. This will be the first face to face gathering to have taken place for this group.

Although these will be informal meetings, each session will have a brief agenda, attendance list, and agreed group rules. This is to help those who don’t know anyone and feel awkward about coming along to a new meeting, to feel that they won’t be left alone on the side-lines.

Sometimes there will be speakers and topics as requested by the group, this will hopefully make it as relevant to your fostering as you like.

These sessions should be recorded on your Personal Development Plan (PDP).

What is it? This is a new dedicated Induction, Training and Support Group for Connected Carers, Including Special Guardians
Why are we running it? We recognise that your situation is very different to that of main stream foster carers. The new role that you find yourself in now, is often not a pathway you may have planned on taking. Unlike foster carers, you are thrown in at the deep end without having had a course to prepare you for what lies ahead, and how ‘The System’ works. This course aims to do that as well as recognise the particular difficulties that you as ‘Kinship Carers’, whatever your role, face.
How will it run? There will be six sessions, each lasting approximately 2-2.5 hours, which will take place over the course of a year. It is hoped that you will attend all six, but as new carers arrive, they can join the programme at any stage. The sessions will be led in the main by Social workers from our team. There will be light refreshment of tea and coffee provided at each session, but it would be rather nice if we could take it in turns to bring and share some food. The first session will be catered for, but we will discuss how this works for future sessions at the end of our first meeting.

This session will focus on the transition of your role.

The Purpose for the support groups



We realise that fostering can be really difficult at times. Perhaps the only people who really understand it are other foster carers and so therefore we want to give you a place to meet up.

There will be biscuits and/or cake, coffee, tea, and an opportunity for an informal chat at all of the meetings.

Although these will be informal meetings, each session will have a brief agenda, attendance list, and agreed group rules. This is to help those who don’t know anyone and feel awkward about coming along to a new meeting, to feel that they won’t be left alone on the side-lines.

Sometimes there will be speakers and topics as requested by the group, this will hopefully make it as relevant to your fostering as you like.

These sessions should be recorded on your Personal Development Plan (PDP).

The Virtual School value the time they spend with carers, and to enable this to be an even more successful partnership between school and home, have arranged four sessions to take place over the school year.

This third session will look at EHCP's (Education Health Care Plans) as well as Transitions. The session will conclude with any other business and Steve will be able to answer any questions you may have.

This blended half day course has been developed in direct response to the Covid situation, and is designed specifically for online delivery to smaller groups of participants. It covers what self-harm is, and why people might hurt themselves, as well as providing space to think about what a helpful response to someone who has hurt themselves might be. It has a strong emphasis on bringing the voices of people who use self-harm to the virtual room, and provides space and time for reflection. This course has been developed to either stand alone or complement others in a series of events, and utilises a range of tools to offer a participative online training experience.

Worksheets, handouts and copies of the presentation will be available to complement learning.

Our expertise: Self-Injury Support has 30 years’ experience in delivering high quality self-harm education to a wide variety of settings and participants. Our approach is participative and reflective, and is focussed on bringing the voice of people who use self-harm into the room, building empathy and confidence for supporters.

The standard charge for this course is £47.50. Please refer to our Course Charges on the Home page for information on discounts and exemptions

Come and join us for a cuppa, cake and a chat with Foster Carers in your local area.

This is an informal support group where children are welcome to join. This is an opportunity to share your experiences and seek support and advice from our Supervising Social Workers or your fellow Foster Carers. There is plenty of parking available at the venue and toys available for children.

Please book in if you can attend and we look forwards to seeing you there! Rasheda and Jane