We have expanded across Derbyshire with our new Chesterfield offices
The November 2017 opening of our expanded premises was attended by the Mayor, Councillor Maureen Davenport and other local dignitaries. We want to recruit more foster carers in Chesterfield in a bid to support the increasing number of young children entering the care system. This drive will operate from our Market Place offices which now boast innovative facilities to cater for delivering essential training to new foster carers. We are also recruiting four new staff to manage the new office, including data entry clerks and admin officers.
The organisation is hoping to recruit a variety of fostering roles including carers to look after long term placements, sibling groups and short-term placements which are young people that have been removed from previous carers and require urgent care or interim support.
Commenting at the office launch Colette Abbiss, Five Rivers fostering manager for the north of England, said:
“Being able to increase our presence in Chesterfield is key to reaching the many vulnerable children waiting to be placed with foster carers. But to be able to keep up with the growing number of children entering care, a substantial shift is needed in the volume of foster carers recruited.
“One issue that may be impacting recruitment are the misconceptions deterring potential carers from exploring fostering. An overwhelming number of people still think that it’s only a viable option for those that are older, already parents or homeowners. But that’s simply not the case. People from all walks of life can foster, so same-sex couples, single carers, people that rent property and those as young as 21 can foster as long as they have a suitable spare room and the necessary personal attributes.”
Colette continued: “We hope our expansion in Chesterfield will encourage people to pop in and have a chat with our staff to talk about the different fostering options available in the town and how they could make a life changing difference to a young person or child.”