Olive Branch Fostering
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- Author:FosterWiki
- Published:June 2023
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Country:
Who is Olive Branch Fostering?
Working in the heart of communities across Northwest England, we represent and work for children and teenagers in foster care and the families and individuals who can open their homes to foster placements. This gives us the privileged position of identifying truly beneficial fostering types and matches – focusing on placing young people in the best environment to meet their needs and support their growth.
Joanne Sharples, Olive Branch Fostering Director
For many carers and families, we recognise that fostering is a journey that lasts a lifetime – turbulent with challenges and rewards, highs and lows. And while we understand that every foster placement is unique and that every foster family has their approach and boundaries, our training and support team are here to ensure that you feel confident and empowered every step of the way.
Why foster with Olive Branch Fostering?
We pride ourselves in the cohesive community spirit that unites our team with every foster carer that joins us on their journey. With office bases in Liverpool and Lancashire, we work daily to match children and young people in care with the foster homes across the Northwest of England that best support their individual needs – whether that placement is a single night, a week, a short break, or a long-term move.
Here are just a few reasons our carers choose to work with Olive Branch:
- We have a diverse and amazing group of foster carers across the North West of England, from Lancashire down to Merseyside and across to Manchester.
- We closely support every single person in their role as foster carers. We know them all personally, we’re one big family.
- Our unique ‘Carer Connect’ initiative includes monthly informal meet-ups for foster carers with a choice of 15 locations across the north west providing everyone with a chance to meet like-minded carers from their local area (and free coffee and cake!).
- Olive Branch’s Carer Connect also connects every new foster carer with an experienced foster carer during their assessment period offering personal guidance and support in their fostering journey.
- Olive Branch offers all carers weekly contact and monthly supervision with their assigned Supervising Social Worker.
- Every child and young person in our agency has a named Children and Young Person Engagement Officer assigned to them when they join us.
- All of our training is tailored to our carers needs and circumstances including a range of specialist courses and support in addition to essential training such as safeguarding, health and safety.
- We are committed to bringing fostering families together as much as possible, through events and activities that we organise throughout the year. Offering carers the opportunity to widen their network and join in the fun.
Ofsted Inspector, August 2021
No matter the length of placement or the situation in which a child finds themselves in care, our job is to maintain consistency and security for every young person we meet and to support each of our foster carers so that they can be there for every child that needs them.
What our carers say
“The team at Olive Branch Fostering have always given us so much support. There are always people that I can go to for help, from our Social Worker and Children Engagement Officer to Paisley, who has been our Fostering Advisor from the beginning. Olive Branch put us at ease, and we have involvement with social workers every week”
Laura, Olive Branch Foster Carer. Read more of her story here.
“I do feel like Olive Branch is part of the family. I know I can ring them anytime. I’ve had a few social worker changes, but it’s important to have a very good relationship with the social worker because sometimes it can be difficult.
It’s important to me that they understand me, so we can work as a team. Olive Branch is approachable and I’m happy with them.”
Safia, Olive Branch Foster Carer. Read more of her story here.
“We chose Olive Branch because we felt that Olive Branch represented reaching out to vulnerable children/young people. The website was very informative. The initial contact with Olive Branch was very encouraging and they were supportive all the way through the process and still are to date. Olive Branch is one big happy family.”
Debra and Naim, Olive Branch Foster Carers
“We thought the name “Olive Branch” was so fitting for fostering and reaching out. I must have read the whole website and seen how important it meant to the company and knew it was the right choice for us. We gain so much joy and reward doing something that feels so natural to us”.
Claire and John Paul, Olive Branch Foster Carers
Training, education and personal development with Olive Branch Fostering
At Olive Branch, we believe that we never stop learning because life never stops teaching. That’s why we have created a culture of continuous learning and development where we learn from each other, share ideas, and grow together as a better, smarter agency.
When you become a foster carer with Olive Branch Fostering, you receive end-to-end support from the initial application to your first, fifth, and fiftieth placement.
We want our foster carers to be the best at what they do, we invest in their learning and want them to develop along with the agency. We know that the strength of our team is in their knowledge and experience, and we do our best to support our carer’s learning needs and always take great pride in our foster carers’ achievements.
We understand the role of a foster carer can sometimes be challenging, which is why we offer a support package to all our foster carers to help them provide the best possible care for their children and young people looked-after. We do everything we can for our foster carers and children. That’s why we offer:
- An on-call social worker 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for any issues outside of office hours. A member of staff is contactable at all times.
- Your own dedicated social worker who will visit you at least once a month and will be available over the phone, email, and text.
- Direct access to the senior management team who are always happy to hear from foster carers.
- Regular fostering forums every quarter where all our carers come together for training and discussions.
- A child social care advocate, who works directly with birth children and foster children to help them with any issues and also fun activities throughout the year.
- Regular foster carer support groups, and we encourage all foster carers to attend to share their experiences and receive peer support.
- We will commit to supporting the birth children of foster carers, as they are essential to securing a positive family experience for children in care.
- Complimentary access to legal and financial advice lines.
In addition, we also offer mandatory training courses to help develop the skills of our carers so they can offer the best possible care to their placement children. These courses are regularly updated, but here are some which we offer:
- Child protection
- Working with children who have been abused
- Safe Caring
- Managing difficult behaviour
- Managing and promoting contact
- Identity and self-esteem
- Valuing diversity and promoting equality
- Recording
- First aid
- Health and safety
- Health care of fostered children and young people
- Education of fostered children and young people
- Empowering children and young people
- Preparing children and young people for adulthood
Read more about the training we offer our carers here.
Transfer to us
When you join Olive Branch Fostering, you join a community of like-minded foster carers who feel valued from day one. We believe that when we invest time in our foster families, they invest their loyalty and trust in us – enabling us to provide a better and more consistent level of care to the hundreds of young people who are passed through the system to us every year.
Transferring from another agency can feel like an overwhelming upheaval for you and any existing children in your care. But rest assured, transferring to Olive Branch is not only a smooth process but will give you instant access to our friendly and professional team, and our comprehensive training opportunities.
We are fully committed to ensuring the transfer process is as smooth and efficient as possible with minimum disruption to foster carers and any existing placements they may have.
What areas does Olive Branch Fostering cover?
Olive Branch Fostering has offices in Lancashire and Liverpool and supports foster carers in the following areas:
- Lancashire
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Blackpool
- Preston
- Blackburn
Why not contact Olive Branch Fostering for an informal and confidential chat about a new career in fostering?
Not in the North West of England?
Olive Branch Fostering is part of BSN Social Care, a family of independent foster agencies all with a shared vision and ethos, all delivering the same high-quality environment for their foster carers and the children they look after.
Unity Foster Care
- South Yorkshire
- Teesside
- County Durham
www.unityfostercare.co.uk
Take a look at our page here on FosterWiki
Nexus Fostering
Locations covered by Nexus Fostering:
- Anglia
- Midlands
- London
- Cambridgeshire
- Essex
- Gloucestershire
https://nexusfostering.co.uk
Take a look at our page here on FosterWiki
Blue Sky Fostering
- Devon & Cornwall
- Bristol
- Dorset & Hampshire
- West Sussex and Surrey
- Kent
Blueskyfostering.co.uk
Take a look at our page here on FosterWiki
Calon Cymru Fostering
Calon Cymru Fostering is based in the south of Wales and covers:
- Cardiff
- Swansea
- Pembrokeshire
- Carmarthenshire
- Ceredigion
caloncymrufostering.co.uk
Take a look at our page here on FosterWiki
