Fostering in the South West

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 have been involved in fostering for over 35 years. Having been a foster carer for over 7 years and supporting my parents to foster it felt natural for me to undertake social work in the field of fostering and have worked in the independent fostering sector for over 20 years.

I joined Capstone over 10 years ago and have consistently enjoyed the commitment and passion of the teams that I work with. We strive to ensure that our foster carers are supported, respected and enabled to provide the best standard of care to the children and young people we look after.

Hi, my name is Roxy and I am the fostering recruitment advisor for the South West region. I joined the Capstone team in February 2022. In my current role I am responsible for recruiting and looking after our potential foster carers. I support the transition into the assessment process and provide guidance and support with the initial steps of the journey of becoming a foster carer.

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 the Placement Officer  for the Southwest and I joined Capstone in 2018.

What inspires me in my role, is knowing we are making a difference to children that come into the care of our agency, and the foster carer we have,  knowing that they in a safe, secure and in a loving home.  I also enjoy meeting the children on carer/ children days and seeing them doing well, after all they have been through.

I have been married to Simon for too many years to think about, we have 1 son who is 30 years old and 1 granddaughter who is a joy to have around and keeps us on our toes, she is growing up way too fast!  

Music is a passion of ours, we love to go to gigs/ music festivals, rock, folk, punk, but also love to listen to all genres of music. I also love shopping - my granddaughter loves it too. We love to go for walks, exploring new places (we are fortunate to have some amazing places in and around Bristol). I try to keep fit and I love to Zumba, as it’s not just exercising, catching up with friends and having a laugh while dancing. Catching up with family & friends is also good for the soul. We love to travel and go on holidays, my favourite destination is Thailand, having been there quite a few times (over 8 times over the years), what’s not to love from the weather, the food, the people, the beaches, to the friends we have made out there.

Hi everyone, I am a Placements Officer for the South West and South East. I joined Capstone in March 2022! Prior to joining Capstone, I have worked in residential children’s homes, the looked after children’s team at my local authority, and within adult mental health. I also studied Psychosocial Studies at university, which I feel relates well to my line of work. I find nothing more rewarding than supporting individuals to live their full potential, and to bring happiness to others lives!