Lucy Stevens - 20th December 2021
We could describe this year as the lockdown equivalent of the hokey cokey. In, out. In, out! It’s certainly been a challenging old time for you, our highly valued foster carers. We wanted to use our last blog of the year to thank you for your resilience, commitment, and general awesomeness which you have all displayed in abundance throughout 2021.
So many reasons to thank you
We are so thankful that we have had opportunities this year to meet with you and the children during our events over the summer. We enjoyed two beach days, go-karting, and a lovely family picnic day during the summer during which it was clear to see the fruits of your labour. All the children and young people were happy, healthy, and thriving – all good signs of the emotional nurture you are giving them. We thank you!
We know it hasn’t been easy. As foster carers you have had to show your flexibility and draw upon all your reserves of creativity, patience, and commitment. You have had to be foster carers, yes, but you have also had to be teachers, counsellors, advisers, artists, bakers, DIYers, quizmasters and experts in zoom! We thank you!
Life continues to be uncertain and overshadowed by Covid. Yet, the team at Eastern Fostering Services knows we have the best carers for whatever the year ahead holds. You are our safe and trusted hands and feet. We thank you!
So, we look forward to 2022. We have a number of plans for you! We will re-schedule our Eastern Fostering Services conference day that we had to cancel, we will be able to have our annual talent show, circus trip, and we are planning an EFS camping weekend for next summer. Lots to look forward to in the fostering calendar. We thank you for being so enthusiastic about the fostering community offerings we make to you; the take-up is always so good.
We also look forward to welcoming Paul, our new Children’s Participation Worker. As part of our drive to be creative in how we support you and thank you meaningfully for the work you do, we have asked Paul to join us in working directly with children and young people. He will be supervising contact if needed, supporting children when they are out of school and starting up some participation groups for children and young people in foster care on themes which affect them in their everyday life. We sincerely hope this gives you, our foster carers, a new dimension to the support we offer. We’ll be introducing Paul to you in a later blog in the New Year.
All that remains is to thank you once again for all that you are and all that you do. But perhaps two of our children can say it better….
We wish you a very Merry Christmas and look forward to catching up in 2022!
Eastern Fostering Services - The small agency with a strong family feel
