Children’s Homes Fortnight: Northumberland County Council spotlights care workers and expands services
Northumberland County Council celebrated its first Children’s Homes Fortnight – shining a spotlight on the life-changing work of care workers.
The initiative was inspired by a care-experienced young person who wanted to thank her carers, and has grown into a region-wide celebration of the vital role residential care workers play in the lives of vulnerable children.
Northumberland County Council has five residential children’s homes - all which are rated good by Ofsted and were praised during the recent outstanding Ofsted inspection of the wider children’s services team.
The Council recently opened a new children's home and continues to invest in recruiting more foster carers and opening more children’s homes.
Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, Cabinet member for Inspiring Young People, said: “Children’s Homes Fortnight is a celebration of the people who show up every day for the young people they care for providing support, guidance, and commitment.
"These teams build life-changing relationships, provide safe and nurturing homes, and help children develop confidence and independence.
"We are proud of our homes, our staff, and of the young people they support. They are part of their communities and help young people thrive in it.
"We want all Northumberland children to get the best start in life and to be able to grow up in safe and loving homes in their communities, where they can have fun with their family, friends and go to their local schools.
“Unfortunately, this is not always the case and too many of our most vulnerable children are living in placements outside the county, sometimes many miles from where they grew up.
“That’s why we are investing in more homes and foster carers and working to keep families together where possible."
Northumberland County Council provides a range of residential services for children who cannot live at home, either for long or short periods.
The majority of care-experienced children stay with foster families. But for some children, a residential home may be the best environment in which they can be supported by specially trained staff to reach their potential.
Adam Hall, children’s services manager for residential and support services, said: “After 30 years of working in children’s homes, I’m incredibly proud to see us dedicating two full weeks to honour the amazing people who make this work possible.
“Our children’s homes are like any other family home. Children go to school or college, come home, have tea, do their homework and then enjoy a range of other activities.
“We will be launching another recruitment drive soon as we continue to expand our team and would love to hear from anyone who may want to find out more about the many rewards a career in care can bring."
As part of the celebrations, a number of the team were presented with long-service awards.
Among them is Eileen Gray. Eileen worked as a childminder before discovering a new career in children’s residential care and now manages our latest home.
She said: “For me the most rewarding thing is when you go out with the children and for that first time you do something they've never done before or experienced before.
"Coming back one night from the woods, we saw an owl and a shooting star and those moments were just magical as that child had never experienced that before."