February 1st – 7th is Children’s Mental Health week. This week is organised by Place 2 Be charity whose aim is to help children suffering from various mental health conditions by providing education, counselling and support. The charity also provide parents, carers and school staff with information, guidance and training to enable them to effectively offer support to vulnerable children. The theme for Children’s Mental Health week 2021, is ‘Express Yourself’. Children and young people do not always know how to express how they are feeling, sometimes they may struggle to find the words or the desire to talk about their emotions and thoughts. A trusted adult can help children find ways to express their feelings and foster carers play a key role in helping vulnerable children and young people learn how to do this.

Are you considering a career in fostering but are unsure if you have the relevant skills? Although it may be an advantage, a person is not required to have worked in the childcare sector specifically to become a foster carer. There are many jobs that will provide individuals with the transferable skills and a foundation of experience and knowledge necessary to begin the fostering journey. Many professions will equip people with skills that can be used to successfully support and nurture children through difficult periods in their lives as well as the other aspects of the role including working as part of a team and keeping detailed written records. Read on to learn whether your current job role could help you realise your dream to foster a vulnerable child.

Foster carers continue to be urgently needed as we begin this New Year. There are thousands of children in need of foster care across the UK and the pandemic continues to put vulnerable children at risk. Becoming a foster carer during the pandemic is possible and we encourage you to get in touch with our independent fostering agency if you are considering a career in fostering. During lockdown last year our newest team member N* made her initial enquiry into fostering with Focus. Whilst many businesses and industries have been put on hold, people working in the fostering sector have not stopped throughout all the challenges of the pandemic and we welcomed N* as our newest foster carer in July. If you are passionate about helping children to achieve their potential and believe every child deserves a happy childhood, we want to hear from you. To put your mind at rest and to tell you all about becoming a foster carer during the pandemic, we have an interview with N. N went through the whole process to becoming a foster parent in the early months of the pandemic and has shared her experience, right from the first enquiry through to attending our virtual panel. This interview will show you it is possible to become a foster carer during the pandemic and will hopefully encourage you to get in touch with us today if you are thinking about fostering.

2020 has been a life changing year for everyone. Whether it be through contracting COVID-19, losing a loved one to the virus, facing financial struggles, battling loneliness, missing family and friends or balancing working from home with home-schooling – the pandemic has forced us all to adapt and face some of our greatest challenges. Yet here we are, the end of 2020 is here and you are still here reading this. You’ve made it through one of the toughest years in recent history. It’s important to reflect on everything that has happened but then it will be time to look ahead to 2021 and the things you can do to make a positive difference in the new year.

Life as a foster family is full of ups and downs, there are happy times and challenging periods too. However, Christmas and the festive season can be a particularly difficult time for children in foster care. When it was announced last week that Christmas bubbles could only be for Christmas Day and several areas of the UK were placed into tier 4, families were left disappointed that they couldn’t be together for the holidays. Thousands of children feel this sadness every year when they are unable to spend Christmas with their families, for various reasons. This is why foster carers are so important, they provide children with a safe and loving home and can help them experience a happy family Christmas that many of us have previously taken for granted. If you are thinking of fostering in the new year and are curious what fostering at Christmas must be like, our foster carer N* has shared her experience of her first Christmas period as a foster carer. N joined the Focus Foster Care family in July, she has two daughters who live at home and is currently a foster carer for one child.

This week is Anti-bullying week, an event organised by Anti-Bullying Alliance. Anti-bullying week aims to address the issue of bullying and provide support, information and guidance for schools, parents, cares and children.

The theme this year is United Against Bullying and the week began with Odd Socks Day, an opportunity for children to celebrate their differences and individualism.

The first step to becoming a foster carer with our independent fostering agency is getting in contact with our team. You can either phone Focus Foster Care on 0800 524 4797 or email admin@focusfostercare.com . Following a conversation with a member of our team, if you continue to be interested in fostering, the next step would be for an initial visit at your home to take place. If you would like to be prepared for what is to come during this very early yet important stage of your fostering journey, we have answered some frequently asked questions about the first visit with a social worker in this post. Big life changes and decisions are often accompanied with some anxiety, we hope this post puts your mind at rest and helps you to feel prepared to confidently take your first step into life as a foster carer.

It is half term and with many of the usual holiday activities now being off limits in several areas due to coronavirus restrictions, we wanted to share some ideas for ways you can have fun at home as a family. You may not be able to do all the things you had planned, or go to the places you wanted to go with the children this week, but there are still lots of fun activities that will keep the whole family busy this half term. Here are ten ideas to get you started…

The school half term is here and we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate some of the amazing achievements our children in care and foster carers have made since September. This academic year the return to school has been an anxious time, the children have had lots of new rules and guidelines to follow and parents and carers have also had to adjust to the new ways of school life. It has not been easy for anyone, but this pandemic has been especially difficult for vulnerable children and families. It is truly inspiring to see the children achieving and learning so much and demonstrating just how resilient they can be.

With new restrictions now in place and many local cities and counties being placed into lockdown, we felt now was an appropriate time to update everyone on what is happening at Focus Foster Care. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted us all, however, vulnerable families and children have been significantly affected. The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and the national lockdown has resulted in the fostering sector becoming very busy as the year has progressed.