Wrapping up after another successful two-day foster carer’s conference!

Published 14 Aug 2018

Our two-day foster carer’s conference took place last week, bringing together 60 carers and social workers from across Kent, Essex and London. We had an extremely interesting two days, with great speakers, interesting group sessions and a chance to unwind and enjoy some early Christmas celebrations!

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Our training sessions spanned a huge range of topics from child exploitation through to men in foster care. Here’s an in-depth look at each session from across the two days:

Day one:

  • Session one: Training on child sexual exploitation and prevention: a really thought provoking topic which provided our carers with the latest information on how to spot any signs and symptoms of radicalisation or sexual exploitation. It was an excellent training session presented by Pam Williams and the feedback from our carers was extremely positive.
  • Session two: Men in foster care: we always think it’s good for our male foster carers to get together and talk about their experiences in fostering. This great session was run by Alan Fisher who was highly rated by the whole group.
  • Session 3: How to get the best out of educational meetings: this session was delivered by two OFSTED inspectors, with an empowering speech on how our foster carers can get the best out of educational meetings and advocate for their children and young people. We all had many light bulb moments in this session and our carers now can’t wait to put what they learnt into practice!

Day two:

  • Morning session: Being in Care, run by Become a leading national charity for children in care and young care leavers: this session was run by young people who have been in care themselves and focused on their real life care experiences. The session provoked animated discussion and gave a real insight into young people’s views of the care system and what can be done to make their experiences better.

After so many incredible, moving and thought provoking discussions, it was important for us to get together and let our hair down. We enjoyed an evening full of Christmas fun with a three-course meal, a live band and even a photo booth, that helped capture the fun we all had in photo-form! It’s safe to say that our foster carers, social workers and Affinity staff really know how to enjoy themselves!

A lot of work goes into organising conferences like this, but flicking through photos and having the chance to mull over everything we learnt over those two days reminds us of how important it is to come together as a team. We can’t wait to do it all again next year!

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