Foster Care Fortnight
‘The Power of Relationships'‘!
It’s been a mad few weeks here at The EPIC Family CIC. We chased Ofsted during April as we had’t heard anything from them during the time frame that their guidance gives regarding registering as a Fostering Service. They told us (vaguely) that we should hear “early May, possibly end of April, certainly by end of May”. Taking their word for it, we’ve been mad-busy writing more policies and procedures. Sourcing further materials and building relationships with existing and new contacts. This leads me into Foster Care Fortnight:
The Fostering Network have a big campaign every year which promotes/celebrates/discusses Fostering. It brings the topic of Fostering into more of a spotlight by highlighting it with a theme every year for two weeks. This years theme is ‘The Power of Relationships’.
For me, relationships have always been important. I’m someone who finds holding a grudge quite exhausting, so rarely do! Everyone has their story, and it isn’t always obvious to others what that story is, therefore it is important to try not to judge people based on their actions in the moment. We often don’t know what has gone on, or is going on for that individual. For me, checking in on people with a random-out-of-the-blue - HELLO, goes a long way! You may not have had contact with the person for some years, but that great feeling of connection is almost instant and the rewards ever-lasting.
So whatever your relationship is with individuals, I would say try and embrace the good bits, and may be just distance yourself a little from the bits that may make you feel wobbly. We all have our moments, we all have our strengths, and we all need support when the going gets tough. There are people in my lifetime who I have judged (and have judged me) in a negative way historically, but actually by nurturing those relationships I’ve become good friends and would like to think I’ve made a difference to them. I’m hoping one of those people will join me on my next video blog over Foster Care Fortnight… Watch this Space, it’s a video podcast that I’m rather excited about!
So, whatever your views on The Fostering Network’s Foster Care Fortnight, embrace the message: ‘The Power of Relationships’!
Dan.
Founder & CEO.