Reach Out Care directors Derek and Dot Butler and fostering manager Lynne Brown (front) celebrating their outstanding Ofsted achievement with their team. The celebration cake will be sold in portions to raise money for the Samaritans.
“Outstanding” – that’s how Ofsted have rated Reach Out Care Fostering Services in Newton Aycliffe.
The agency, which also holds Investors in People gold accreditation, works with 29 local authorities and is about to open additional offices in Billingham
“We are absolutely delighted!” said fostering manager Lynne Brown. “There were so many brilliant, positive things in the report.
“We work very much as a team and respect our foster carers as professionals. We also do things which are a bit out of the ordinary – like having a celebration day just for the children of foster carers because we recognise the important role they play in a fostering household.
“We were particularly pleased that the inspector said that children’s needs are at the forefront of our operations and that they are provided with family placements that offer stability, love and safety.
“He also reported that our foster carers demonstrate an enthusiastic commitment to their work with children in their care and that we give them extra support to maintain the stability of placements.”
The report also said that a strong feature of the fostering agency was the passionate commitment to finding the most appropriate placement for children and that children made exceptional progress at school compared to their starting points prior to being placed with their foster families.
To celebrate the team ordered in a special celebration cake, portions of which will be sold during Feel Good Friday, the Samaritans fund raising day, this week. Agency foster carers and people interested in fostering are invited to the agency’s new offices, the former GP surgery in Marsh House Avenue, from 10am until midday.
The new offices, which include a play therapy room and two supervised contact rooms, will be open for business from next month onwards.
If you are interested in attending the coffee morning to find out more about fostering, call the team on 01325 310009 (option 2).
