Amie McArdle – Leaving Care Advisor My name is Amie McArdle, and I am a senior nursing assistant for the NHS in my local A&E department. I started my journey with UK Fostering as a Panel Member, helping to approve potential carers. Moving into independence at a young age can be very scary. Budgets, opening accounts,…
Sandra Fishburn-Parkin is a qualified and experienced Teacher of the Deaf. Based in the North East, she has worked in various settings in primary schools for over 23 years. Her direct work with children includes a variety of aspects such as aiding communication between the deaf child and carers, communicating concerns and worries, programmes to…
Lorraine Langridge is an integrative counsellor and supervisor with many years experience working with children, teenagers, adults and couples. This includes CBT, client centred therapy, filial therapy and psychodynamic counselling. As is very relevant during the pandemic, she is also qualified to provide counselling via telephone or a video link such as Zoom. This has…
Amanda works with a person-centred approach on a holistic level, and multi-disciplinary working is an important aspect of her work. She supports children and young people placed with UK Fostering in various ways, for example by enhancing the understanding and knowledge of a foster carer or social worker in relation to a child, or by…
Stef – Supervising Social Worker Hi. My name is Stef I am an experienced supervising social worker covering the Eastern Region. I have worked in a variety of settings, both in the statutory and private sector, since qualifying in 2011 (MASW). This experience, coupled with my previous role as a family support worker and degree…
Sandra – Business Development Manager Before joining UK Fostering, Sandra had worked in London for 27 years, obtaining a wealth of admin exposure and spent 18 years within a Private Equity company. Sandra’s role, during that time, covered many aspects of the daily running of the business; from compliance, company secretarial, IT, mentoring, investor relations…
Rhiannon – Care Leaver Advisor My name is Rhiannon Blomley and I am in my third and final year studying Criminology and Sociology at The University of Nottingham. I have been a care leaver since the age of 17 and had previously been in care from the ages of 7-17. I mainly support myself at…
Nick – Care Leaver, Trainer and Fostering Consultant to UK Fostering I went into foster care when I was 13 years old and stayed with my foster carers for 9 years. I suffered 3 years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of a family member. When I went into foster care I…
Trudy – Consultant Therapist Trudy Darien consultant and founder of Acacia Consultancy has worked in the care profession with looked after children and young people for over 20 years. Trudy has managed and set up children’s homes in a consultancy capacity, and developed a training programme which gives practitioners an insight into Therapeutic Child Care…
Julienne – Administrator Julienne has a varied background having starting her working life in the travel and leisure industry and moving in to, sales, customer service, export and the 3rd sector, many of these in an administrative environment. Julienne joined the team in 2014 in an administrative role to undertake the statutory checks for applicants…