North West Regional Update & News

You may be wondering how our regions have been dealing in the current climate. Our Northwest team, along with the other regions, have been working extremely hard during this time. Updated from the North West region follow along with a lovely message to the team from the North West Manager – Thank you Lorraine!

Training:

We have recently held some virtual Training sessions for Foster Carers during lockdown and thank you to those who accessed this training. As soon as we are able, we will resume some face to face Training and the first two courses that we will facilitate will include Safeguarding and First Aid Training. I would like to actively encourage you to continue to access online training and to speak to your Supervising Social Workers about opportunities to enhance your individual ongoing learning.

Young People’s Participation

This is an area of development that we continue to work on as we value feedback from all children and young people involved in fostering including Carers’ own birth children.  We want young people to have a say and to feel that their views are heard by Fusion. We also want children and young people to feel part of the ongoing development of the region and the planning and organising of children and young people’s events. We will keep you all updated on this exciting development and if any of the young people in your fostering households are interested in becoming involved please let your Supervising Social Worker know.

North West Events

We are holding a Virtual Coffee morning in the North West on the 11^th August 2020 at 11am. We will be sending invites shortly and please join the Team for a virtual catch up through TEAMS with a coffee or tea and a cake or biscuit of your choice.

We are planning on holding an event for Carers and young people to celebrate their talents and achievements.  We want to thank Carers for their continued commitment to Fostering and to the positive difference that they continue to make for young people in their care. Due to COVID, this event may need to be virtual and we will keep you informed of our plans.

Face Masks:

Fusion has had face masks made which are washable and have a filter. The masks have a picture on them that has been designed by one of Fusion’s young people. If you would like any masks, please ask your Supervising Social Worker and, dependent on demand, we will endeavour to follow up your requests.

Recruitment:

If you would like to recommend any potential applicants to the region who are interested in becoming Foster Carers, we would love to hear from you. Fusion is happy to reward Foster Carers whose recommendation is successful and results in the person/s becoming approved following Assessment. Please ask your Supervising Social Worker for further detail.

Since our last Newsletter, the last few months have been a busy time and I wanted to say thank you from myself and the Team for all your additional hard work during these unprecedented times due to COVID.  As a region, we have worked together with the cooperation of yourselves and adapted our ways of working and communicating as we have all become familiar with the virtual world of using technology, including Teams and other Apps, to continue communication with yourselves. Thank you for your co-operation and contribution to Supervisions, Reviews, Catch Ups, and other meetings using the medium. During these challenging times, as a region, we have continued to grow and have welcomed a number of Newly Approved Foster Carers to our region and I would also like to welcome some transferring Carers who bring with them many years of experience.

Thanks to your ongoing support and commitment to Fostering we have placed 10 young people in July and referrals remain busy.

It is fantastic that we are able to continue to provide children and young people with the opportunity to feel safe and cared for in placements where they are being provided with the opportunity to achieve positive outcomes in all areas of their lives.

Lorraine Elliott

Regional Manager

Fusion North West