Hello team,
We hope that you have had a fantastic June so far and are looking forward to the Summer months. Don't forget to let us know if there is anything you would like to see more or less of in Staff Matters, we are always keen to hear what you want to know about!
Who's Who?
In the last installment of our 'who's who?' (something different is coming next month) we would love to introduce you to two of our smaller teams from the National Team, our Advocacy Team and our Training and Courses Team.
Our Advocacy Team is made up of (left to right) Sam Lomas, Head of Advocacy and Hannah Greer, Policy and Research Lead. As a team, they work to influence policy and practice so that children and young people have the best possible chance to thrive in safe and loving homes. They lead our Supported Lodgings National Network (SLNN), bringing together practitioners and providers to shape national conversations, provide policy briefings, keep on top of developments in Parliament and act as joint secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Adoption and Permanence. They write reports and briefings that are used to engage with parliamentarians and inform wider influencing work.
Our Training and Courses Team is made up of (left to right) Meg Wilkinson, Head of Training and Courses and Colette Smethurst, National Training Coordinator. (Colette also works as and Engagement and Support Coordinator).
Together, they oversee and support all of the external offer of training to a whole range of people, including volunteers, those journeying with us to consider fostering, adoption and supported lodgings, the Supported Lodgings National Network, churches, our Local Authority partners and more! They are so grateful for the amazing team of facilitators across the org who deliver this training. Online 'Additional Training' is also available to anyone, and is totally free! The sessions are; Understanding Young people, Autism Awareness, Risks Outside the Home to Young People, Mental Health Awareness, and an Introduction to Trauma Informed Support (with more to come!).
Do you know someone who would benefit from this training? Please do advertise it! You can check this all out on the Safe Families website. AND there are some really exciting developments coming in September, so keep your eyes peeled as more is shared on this!
If you are interested in getting involved in some advocacy work, facilitating training or you want to have a chat about what's going on, you can reach out to any of these teams on Slack.
Staff updates - New Starters
This month we would like to give a warm welcome to (from left to right)
- Angela Dunnett, Key Relationships Administrator, started 3 June
- Matt Smith, Church and Community Relationships Coordinator (South West and Wales), started 9 June
- Abi Beel, Fundraising Assistant, started 16 June
- Debra Greene, Family support Manager (Central), started 25 June, photo pending!
Staff updates - Leavers
In June, we sadly said goodbye to Rebekka Webber, Church and Community Relationships Coordinator and Anna-Lisa Reitinger, Family Support Manager. Please join us in prayer for their next steps.
Vacancies
We have had a number of job vacancies available over the past few weeks and we are still on the look out for:
- Family Support Manager (Newcastle and North Tyneside) closing 10 July, hiring manager Kelly Hewitt
- Engagement and Support Coordinator (Northern Ireland), closing 15 July, hiring manager Nicki Williamson
- South Region Business Support Coordinator, closing 10 July, hiring manager Chris Allcock
- Family Support Manager (West Lothian), closing 26 June, hiring manager Julie-Anne Alexander
- Church and Community Relationships Coordinator (Southampton and Hampshire), closing 3 July, hiring manager Billy-Jo O-Leary
- Church and Community Relationships Coordinator (South Scotland/ Scottish Borders), closing 29 June, hiring manager Tamsyn Radmall
If you have any contacts in the area or know someone who may want to apply - please do pass on the job details. All information can be found here.
Training and courses needs assessment
Our lovely training team (who are spotlighted above) are asking for our help in their work to expand and develop our offer of courses and training that we provide BUT they need our help!
📢 Please complete this survey to give them your thoughts by Friday 27th June. Regardless of your role, you have valuable insights that they'd love to hear.
If you want some more information about this, please do take some time watch this video or head over to this post for some more information.
Organisational culture - discussion groups
A healthy organisational culture can be described in many ways; our values give some shape to what we mean by this but don’t do everything. Therefore, we plan to put some more colour to this together and create a statement of intent and a three-year action plan in relation to our organisational culture. To create this statement and action plan, we would like to hear from everyone about what you think a healthy organisational culture looks like / feels like / is and ways in which you think we need to grow and develop in these areas as an organisation. There are two ways that you can input into this, via a discussion session (book in here) or one to one with a member of People and Culture (request one here).
To find out more about this please, follow this link.
Staff survey
We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has completed the staff survey at the beginning of this month, we hope to have some feedback from the results for you towards the end of July!
Therapeutic Parenting Basics - Training Sessions
Our Therapeutic Parenting team have put together some sessions to help us feel more confident and equipped in sharing the basics of therapeutic parenting with others. Why not take a look and get yourself booked on to one of the dates? All the dates and information on how to book can be found here.
And that brings us to the end of another Staff Matters, as always, please do raise a ticket if there is anything that you would like to chat to someone in People and Culture about.