Volunteering with children in care

[fluffynotebook]

Hi there,
Wondered if anyone could offer any advice... I'm hoping to foster in the future. I'm not in a position to at the moment as I feel my own DC are too young and I want to be able to give a foster child everything they need when they come to us.
In the meantime, are there any places/charities that take on volunteers for children in care; to develop a relationship outside the care system and help them through ups and downs?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Than you.

If you look up independent visitors for children in care that might be what you’re looking for

Thank you, I'll look that up.

I've been an independent visitor for 6 years. I love it. I've been with the same child all that time.

Hi all, may I join this thread?

I'm a birth mum to a challenging teen and a mum to a younger boy by adoption (with my dh of course supporting me brilliantly with both kids). We are very much a partnership but I've had a lot of training etc. I've had extra training to support other adopters and am lucky, very lucky, that our adoption county council provides really brilliant support.

Anyway, @Luckypoppy I'm interested in the idea of being an independent visitor for a child in care. Can you point to anything on line about this and say anything about how you got into this?

I'm assuming it's voluntary and you need to go through all the checks etc before starting. It sounds very interesting and rewarding and I'd love to hear more about it.

@fluffynotebook I'm just looking this up for my own county and one of the things it mentions is asylum seekers.

Sometimes unaccompanied children arrive in an area and may be referred to some sort of asylum support.

A friend of mine did this in another country and her whole family were involved in providing a welcome to this young person (although her children and the young person were all teens, I think).

I applied through my LA. They were advertising on the council facebook page but I know that with funding cuts my Authority no longer have a person in charge so you may find it easier to contact child services.

I had to have an interview, enhanced dbs and a 12 week training programme. Then I was matched with potential children. I sat with my advisor and we discussed which child would best suit me. Then I spent some time with her, my advisor and their foster carer. You have to write a report after every meeting which can be time consuming. After 2 years we won a national award!

We have a great friendship and we all (including the foster family) have get a lot out of it.

And yes it's completely voluntary although I do get mileage and up to £8 a time for expenses. In reality is costs me money to take her out but I love it.

There is also a big list of rules that you need to follow but they are covered in training. I already work in children's services but still had to complete all the training as it's for a different authority.

Wow Luckypoppy that sounds really amazing.I'll need to think about it as this seems like a long term commitment.

I do have a fair bit on my plate at the moment so may need to think for the future. I've learnt a fair bit as an adopter over the years and like the idea of putting this to good use.

Very glad to have found this thread and to hear about this initiative.

Thank you for all your replies! I'm not sure how to tag people so apologies. Italiangreyhound I'll look into that thank you.
For those of you that do it, is it generally older children? How do the children get matched to you?

www.fnp.nhs.uk may be worth looking at helps young mum's and dads children and prevents them entering the care system by way of a 3 year partnership of a provided advocate who will visit them and help them for this period.
Have worked with them supporting our foster children are very good, Most are not midwife made up of people with mixed experience, special needs, mental health, adoptive parents , older mum's etc.

It's a true mixture of Agra's. Mine was young but some are late teens.

Matching is based on shares likes and things like your availability and frequency.

Agra's is ages! I was matched with a 6 year old and a 13 year old. I chose the 6 year old. I committed to 2 hours per week. Now I do between 4-8 hours per week but it's developed as we've gone along.

Another one popping by to say thanks for this thread. Like @Italiangreyhound I’m also an adoptive parent. I would love to foster too but as a lone parent it’s just not financially possible. Independent visitors sounds like it may be something I could do and hopefully my experience and training as an adoptive parent might be beneficial. Thanks so much @user1493413286 and @Luckypoppy for making me aware such a scheme existed.