Spring Newsletter – Directors Update
Hi everyone, I love this time of year. Mornings and evenings are brighter and in another month the clock springs forward!! There is something about Spring which brings a lightness and hope to our life and mood after the darkness of winter.
We are busy planning for our summer activities and will share details of the venues with you shortly. In the meantime, please save the dates that have been circulated and let’s get together to have some fun.
We are also in planning mode for 2025 when Fostering Forst will celebrate its 20th anniversary. We will be sending out a short survey asking for your ideas and suggestions as to how to celebrate and mark this event. Please take time in your Carer Groups to discuss it – the success of any celebration depends on those who turn up on the day to participate and enjoy it!!
Fostering Awareness Week takes place from 4th-8th March this year with a theme.
‘Growing Hope, Fostering the Future’
It is an important week to raise the profile of and awareness about fostering. Fostering First has several events and radio interviews in the planning and we are really hoping that the increases in the fostering allowance throughout 2024 will be some incentive to attract more people to think about fostering. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who support us in the recruitment of Foster Carers and who try so hard to encourage others to consider becoming a foster carer.
Carer Learning programmes have changed a lot since we first experienced Covid in early 2020 and moved all our group work, programmes and even Carer Groups online. In early summer we will have a new online Learning System available for all FFI carers. This system will help us provide courses both by eLearning and in a blended way to maximize the full potential for fostering learning and development. Our Carer Consultation Group members are currently trying this system as are new applicants entering assessment as learning in an online environment is here to stay. We have also made a change to the programme for new applicants and have returned to one day of face-to-face Foundations for Fostering training with two other days delivered online.
I wish to express a big thank you to everyone who are completing Carer Logs. There has been a significant improvement both in the number of logs and the number of carers who complete them. They really bring an energy to the story of a young person’s life in care. They are also an especially important safeguard in protecting foster carers when incidents arise. I met one Foster Carer recently who had (thankfully) just received an Unfounded outcome to an allegation. Her advice was “tell every carer the importance of recording and logging events. It made all the difference in our case.” Sound advice!!
I hope to see you at a Carer Group or one of our summer events in the near future and in the meantime keep up the incredible work that you do and thank you for continuing to make such a difference.
If at there is anything you wish to bring to my attention, please don’t hesitate to do so by email marie.faughey@ffi.ie or by mobile 0879790135. Don’t forget that if you are visiting Dublin, you are always welcome to drop into Grantham House and say hello. We love having visitors to the Dublin office.
