Fostering in London and the South East

It is now over 34 years that I have worked within the childcare sector both with the local authority and the independent sector and especially in the fostering arena.  I have been fortunate to work across the UK in Scotland(where I lived for nearly two years), Wales and Southern Ireland as well as working and living  in America and Canada which were great experiences and allowed me to share some of the work and initiatives in the UK within these start up operations. It seems a very long time ago since I qualified as a social worker in 1994. I have always had a passion to enable young people to achieve their potential whatever that maybe and this is still something I feel very strongly about after all these years.

I have now worked for Capstone for over 4 years having started as the Regional Director for the South East in 2018 and two years ago becoming the Area Director for the South Hub which includes Capstone South West, Capstone South East and FosterCare UK. I am extremely proud to have a fantastic group of foster carers and staff that work tirelessly to ensure that the children and young people placed with us have a positive experience and are able to live fulfilling lives, while ensuring we have fun along the way. I have never failed to be amazed by the fantastic work that our foster carers do across the whole company.

Our aim is to provide a high level, quality service and our teams work in partnership with all those involved in the lives of the children to enable the best possible outcome for them.

Outside of work, I am a volunteer for a charitable organisation that also helps children and young people aspire to achieve,  I enjoy leisure activities when I get chance, travelling and spending time with my family.

I started working with Capstone Foster Care in 2009, before joining the team in Dartford as a Supervising Social Worker in 2011. Have spent years working in the region I am now the Registered Manager.

Prior to working for Capstone Foster Care, I have had experience of working in local authorities in a variety of sectors. I am very passionate about working with children and young people, ensuring that they are supported to achieve positive outcomes. I really enjoy working with the staff at Capstone, who are just as passionate as I am about our children and young people, and our amazing foster carers.

Hello!  I joined Capstone in February 2015. I do the initial home visits to people interested in fostering in the South East region, helping them to decide if fostering is right for them and if it is the right time. I then support applicants through the application and assessment process until they are approved as foster carers. I also deliver the Skills to Foster training and can be spotted at many of our recruitment events.

I’m Sarah and I’m the Area Placement Manager for the South Hub.

My role is to support the placement teams in the South West, South East and Foster Care UK. I joined Capstone in November 2020 and have worked within the independent fostering sector since 2004. During that time, I have covered a range of roles, but have always navigated back to placements. This role allows me to support our placement teams consider whether we have a suitable vacancy for our foster carers.

I am able to work with our Local Authority colleagues and understand the needs of the young people they’re placement finding for. Our aim to offer and provide safe, robust and nurturing placements to young people who need them. There is no better feeling that learn how well a young person is flourishing in a placement you’ve supported making. At the end of the working week I enjoy spending time with my family, long walks with my dog and a good podcast.

I am Shannon Carter and I joined Capstone in June 2021 as a Placement Officer for the South East.

I have worked as a Placement Officer within fostering since 2016 and also have a degree in Childhood and Youth Studies. I previously have also been part of outreach work to young people and ran workshops on topics that would best support them. Outside of work I like to spend time with family and friends and go on walks along the beach. I have also recently started to gain an interest in Formula 1!

My role is to match children and young people to families by looking at foster carers skills, experience and most importantly the needs of the child/young person. I find the role of Placement Officer very rewarding knowing that you can make a positive impact to children and young peoples lives. I have built good relationships with local authorities across the country over the years and I like to work closely with foster carers. I believe it is important to work together so we can ensure a good match with a child or young person to enable positive outcomes.

Hi, I joined Capstone in March 2022 to join the South East team as a Placement Officer. I bring with me 13 years of experience in Fostering as a Placement Manager in Wales and prior to that working in Adult services.  I am passionate about working in collaboration with foster carers, social workers, and local authorities to identify good matches and make a positive change to children’s lives. There is nothing more rewarding than placing children and hearing success stories.