Events for foster carers
Annual Conference
Our annual conference normally takes place in May during Foster Care Fortnight. The annual conference has a different theme each year where all our foster carers, connected persons carers and special guardians can come together with the fostering service staff to learn from experts to aid learning and development and continued professional development on trauma related topics. At the conference a series of workshops are also provided to hone in on specific aspects of topics and information that can help our carers and special guardians in their care giving roles.
The Conference is hosted either virtually or face to face and a resource pack is shared with all participants afterwards. Foster carers are encouraged to network and make new, or renew existing, connections with other foster carers who can provide them with peer support and advice. The team is also on hand throughout the day to talk to and take feedback about life as a foster carer and any suggestions for improvement or new ideas.
Some feedback from our carers:
"It was good to be introduced to people I normally only speak to on the phone and to catch up with other foster carers".
“Thank you for getting such an interesting keynote speaker. It was so interesting to hear his story and relate knowledge to his experience. It was refreshing to be able to hear from a care leaver”.
Summer event
This is an annual collaborative event bringing together our children in all care and special guardianship arrangements, to have a fun time, taking part in lots of different activities, including bouncy castles, arts and crafts, sports activities, and this year we had the bonus of hiring a venue which had their own soft play, football pitches, gym and swimming sessions. This catered for everyone from babies to our young people and enjoy time with peers and as a family.
Some feedback from our carers:
“We had a great time and really appreciate the thought and effort that goes into these events. Thank you. Having the bookable activities of swimming and soft play was a real bonus for us this time as it meant our foster children knew what to expect, it reduced queuing time and there were less transitions to worry about which helped with regulation. We didn’t have time to make it into the silent disco or gymnastics but probably would have enjoyed these too.”
Thank You event
Fostering is a unique role and as a Service, we feel that our foster carers need to be recognised for all of the hard work they do. This annual event will take place this year during Kinship Week on a week day during term time so our carers and special guardians can enjoy a party with a buffet, some relaxing activities and time to connect with each other. Some awards will be given out in recognition to foster carers and special guardians who may have gone above and beyond what we could ask of them.
Fostering Families event
We know that the decision to become a foster carer involves the whole family. Children must share their parents, their home and their toys with children coming into the home, as well as sometimes having to cope with some difficult and challenging behaviours. Despite these challenges, many children of foster carers say that being part of a foster family has had a positive impact on them and helped them to understand others better and to have more empathy with people in different situations.
As a Service, we offer an event each year during the Children of Foster Carers month (October) to recognise that our fostering families give so much to our children by welcoming them into their family and this includes their children’s lives. The aim of this is for the children of foster carers to have the opportunity to meet and socialise with other children who share similar experiences. This will also provide peer support for the children of foster carers and hopefully they will have some fun. It also gives us the chance to meet and get to know your children, hearing how we can help support them within the fostering family.
Winter events
As we build up to the break from school that comes with Christmas we host an event with a Winter Theme to do a variety of seasonal and inclusive activities, there is usually a grotto and lots of arts and crafts, music, food and a time to connect and enjoy time with the services as well as peers . This event is usually held on a Saturday at the end of November or early December.
PANTO! Once the school holidays are at an end we like to finish off the year with a panto, families come together to enjoy the silliness that comes with every good panto. This event usually takes place on the first or second Sunday in January.
One of our carers said:
"it was so lovely to go to the panto together and with all the other carers and children too, we really enjoyed it".
Fostering Service (recruitment)
Monday to Thursday: 8.30am â 5pm, Friday: 8.30am - 4.30pm (excluding bank holidays)
Address: Council HouseEarl Street
Coventry
CV1 5RR