Are you ready to start fostering with Affinity?

It’s perfectly natural to think about making changes in our lives, especially at the beginning of a new year. The start of a new year is often met with a feeling of promise or excitement about things to come, and it is often a time when some people consider a new career. It’s also a time for many children and young people to start afresh too, as the festive period can be tricky for many to navigate.

Here at Affinity Fostering, we welcome foster carers from all walks of life. You may be an experienced foster carer looking for a new agency, or you may be thinking about a change of career and have plenty of transferable skills to make use of.

We understand that there are myths attached to becoming a foster carer. We know that many people believe that there are barriers to becoming a foster carer, but some of them are not actually an issue. Did you know, you don’t need to own your own home to be a foster carer? You also don’t need to be in a relationship, and you don’t need to have children of your own to become a wonderful foster carer.

You also don’t need to have any specific qualifications as we provide a full training programme for anyone working with us. You just need to demonstrate that you are calm, caring, resilient, adaptable, and organised and that you can work with children or young people who may experience some challenging behaviour.

At Affinity, we believe that everyone has the right to be nurtured and respected. Therefore, if you made the decision to open your home to a child or young person in need, we will provide you with a full care package which ensures that you are supported fully throughout your foster caring journey.

The package includes:

· A Supervising Social Worker allocated to you, who is able to support you whilst you are on your foster carer journey.

· 24 hours support and guidance via our on-call service. The service is operated by trained social workers 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

· Opportunities to attend support groups with other Affinity foster carers.

· Specifically designed training which will meet your needs as a foster carer.

· A membership of FosterTalk – an independent organisation who provides our foster carers with a variety of additional resources.

· A weekly allowance for fostering. This currently ranges between £399 to £714 per placement. The payments are predominantly tax-free and are dependent upon the type of fostering you provide. There’s much more information available here: Types of Fostering

· Attendance at our Annual Foster Carer Conference, which takes place during the festive season. The Conference gives our foster carers a great opportunity to share ideas, learn new skills and take part in some festivities too.

· Support from Specific Support Workers who will support you and the children or young person/people in your care.

· Ensuring that the Matching process is followed properly.

· Support from a dedicated team. We care about everyone within the Affinity Family.

Harness your transferable skills

It can be easy to think that you don’t have the necessary skills to become a foster carer, but you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to transfer your existing skills to become one. For example, if you are used to managing people in your current or previous roles, then you’re likely able to listen to people’s concerns effectively. You may have had a job that required you to be very organised. Whatever your previous career or jobs have been, there’s every chance that you will have excellent skills that can be transferred to fostering.

Are you ready to take the leap?

Whether you’re considering beginning or returning to a foster carer career, please do get in touch with us. We will be able to chat through your current circumstances, and we’ll of course, talk about any questions you may have about the process. We’ll be there for you every step of the way and will help you to begin the fostering application process.