Kent Based charity Diagrama Foundation is hosting a fostering event to recruit foster carers in the Maidstone area.
Diagrama Foundation is asking people in the Maidstone area to consider choosing a career that makes a difference to children’s lives. With many children in care urgently requiring foster placement the charity is hosting a free fostering event at the Maidstone Community Support Centre on 22 June where people who are looking for a rewarding career can find out more about foster care.
Kate Patel, Head of Adoption and Fostering, Diagrama Foundation said, “There is a pressing need for additional foster carers for the children in care in Kent and we would love to meet with anyone who has perhaps previously considered fostering but never pursued it or is looking for a new and rewarding career where they will make a difference.
“Those who choose to foster with us can be assured that they are in very safe hands. Not only do we provide 24/7 support but we are thrilled that our recent Ofsted report rated our service as GOOD and highlighted that ‘Children say that they feel safe and well cared for by their foster carers’ and ‘Children and foster carers benefit from the expertise that the leadership and management team bring in the areas of child placement, social work with children and families, and safeguarding’.
The informal Diagrama drop in fostering event is being held at Maidstone Community Support Centre on 22 June between 11am and 2pm and those attending will be able to meet and talk with members of the fostering team as well as carers employed by the charity.
Foster Carers need to be aged over 21 and must have a spare bedroom in their home. They can be retired, working full or part time, single or married, any race or cultural background and no experience of having children is necessary as full training will be provided.
Diagrama foster carers receive a minimum of £415 per week per child.
To find out why fostering with an independent, not-for-profit fostering agency is different, visit www.diagramafostering.org.uk or call 0800 802 1910
Notes to Editors
Some highlights from the April 2023 Ofsted report about Diagrama
Leaders and managers work to a clear ethos, where the child is at the centre of all initiatives and activity within the agency.
Children and foster carers benefit from the expertise that the leadership and management team bring in the areas of child placement, social work with children and families, and safeguarding.
Foster carers demonstrate a high level of care and commitment to children, who they view as ‘part of the family’. One foster carer said that the child was with them ‘for life’.
Consequently, foster carers can meet children’s specific needs. Children who are of a different race and cultural background to their carers have their needs promoted well. Children consequently thrive and make good progress in their health, social and emotional development.
Foster carers help children to maintain relationships with their family and friends.
Children say that they feel safe and well cared for by their foster carers
There is a strong focus on matching children well with foster carers.
A strength of the agency is the quality of the relationships that children have with their carers.
Foster carers and staff have access to an extensive range of training and learning opportunities. Leaders and managers encourage staff and foster carers to undertake additional training and obtain specific qualifications.
About Diagrama Foundation Fostering
Diagrama Fostering is an independent, not-for-profit fostering agency that provides a supportive environment for “looked after” children across South London, Kent, Sussex, and Surrey.
The Diagrama fostering agency is small enough to offer a personalised fostering experience while benefitting from the expertise and security that comes with being part of the larger Diagrama charitable foundation.
Diagrama foster carers are rewarded with a generous benefits package, 24/7 support, additional payments, holiday cover and a free training and appraisal programme to develop new skills.
Diagrama works with many local authorities and gives their carers access to a wide and varied range of children in need of care.
Diagrama Fostering is part of Diagrama Foundation
About Diagrama Foundation
Diagrama Foundation is a Kent based charity that supports vulnerable children, young people, and adults to live their best life.
Diagrama has a Supported Living Service across Bromley, three homes for adults with learning disabilities in Orpington, an eight bed care home for adults with learning disabilities in West Sussex a fifty-bed care home for the elderly with nursing and dementia needs in Essex, and a fostering and adoption service in the southeast.
- The Supported Living Service, cares for 35 adults with learning disabilities, in nine homes across Bromley helping them to develop skills and confidence to live in their own house either on their own or with others.
- At Cabrini House in Orpington the charity promotes the development of core skills for 23 adults with learning disabilities so that they can lead independent lives integrated within their community.
- Duckyls Farm in West Sussex, a care home for eight residents with learning disabilities, joined the charity care provider in February 2023.
- The team at their nursing and dementia care home, Edensor Care Centre in Clacton on Sea, support vulnerable residents to live life to the full.
- Diagrama’s adoption and fostering service cares for children in South London, Kent, Sussex, and Surrey.
Many vulnerable children and adults don’t get the support they need to develop their true potential, but the Diagrama team know that when someone has time and belief invested in them, they come alive, because that investment has made them feel valued and worthy.