Your team

I can’t remember a time when I haven’t been surrounded by fostering. I grew up in a house with my brothers and sisters and up to as many as five foster siblings. This introduction to the world of fostering clearly informs my approach in every way.

My parents fostered many young people over a period of more than 30 years and in March 1989 set up the second independent fostering agency in the UK. I joined this fostering service in 1991 and from 2002, I undertook the role of Operations Director and was integral in supporting the board of directors to expand the range of fostering, residential and educational services across the South East. Due to retirement and exit of the founding directors in 2005, I undertook the Responsible Individual and Managing Director role until 2007.

I established FosterCare UK in May 2007 with my partner Alison Finn. My focus being strategic planning and establishing this new fostering service as a pioneer in therapeutic fostering that this service is now nationally known by. I used my key strengths in business development, contracting and commissioning, partnership working and setting high standards to drive this service forward. This service was acquired by Capstone FosterCare in 2017 and following a successful 12 month earn-out period, I left this service in May 2018. During my time with FosterCare UK, I also undertook the role of board member for the NAFP (National Association of Fostering Providers) and achieved many national awards for innovation and practice.

Given my many years of strategic, HR, financial, operational and compliance experience, I will continue to use these strengths to support new regional managers in identifying and assessing business risks, setting strategic direction and safeguarding service users all within the context of mentoring, supporting and developing new regional therapeutic fostering services under the new service offering of evolve Therapeutic Children’s Services.

I am also a member of the NAFP Executive Board.

Hi I’m Vanessa. I’m a skilled, motivated and emphatic senior manager with 23 years social care experience gained in the UK & Ireland across public, private & voluntary sectors across children and families service. I have a particular specialism in permanence which includes fostering, adoption (domestic and intercountry), kinship, special guardianship, panel, residential, children with disabilities, placements and care leavers. I have extensive experience across the permanence agenda, having worked across a number of Local Authorities and IFA’s primarily in the London and South East region.

My career to date has afforded me the opportunity to work as a practitioner, middle manager and senior manager to help bring about change and most importantly improving life chances for cared for children and young people.

Managing fostering services both in local authority and IFA settings have been consistent lead areas of responsibility throughout my career to date. I am passionate about making a difference to children’s lives and truly value and admire the invaluable role foster parents provide and am excited to lead evolve in the next phase of their journey.

Hi, I’m Jill. My background is as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, I have worked in a variety of different fields, including drug and alcohol street agencies and rehabilitation centres through to residential children’s homes and specialist fostering agencies.

In more recent years I trained further in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, an evidence-based intervention for trauma. I am also a long-term foster parent, with three teenagers currently with me. 

I have been working with evolve since graduating university in 2020.

Starting as evolve’s office administrator, to office manager, since doing these two roles I have found the career path I would like to take within HR. I am currently completing a CIPD Level 5 in People Management to help develop my skills further.

I enjoy the variety of my role and supporting the senior management team in delivering outstanding services for children and young people.

I started my career in finance at Pfizer Ltd on a Youth Training Scheme after finishing college. i stayed there for 8 years then joined a merchandise company for 4 years.

The next 12 years saw my finance career move into the Independent Fostering Sector, working at FSG and then at FosterCare UK.

I have since worked in a local secondary school for just over 5 years, and am now looking forward to making my way back to working in the Fostering Sector again.

After spending the last 11 months turning evolve’s Residential house into a home for our future children and young people, I’m excited to start my new role.

I’m looking forward to seeing what knowledge I gain within my new role and to be a part of evolve as it grows.

After spending eight years, and a pandemic, in retail I decided the time was right to leave the only career I had ever known to pursue my passion for Marketing. I enjoy my varied role with the evolve Group, supporting and delivering recruitment, marketing and social media strategies, whilst ensuring high standards are met in terms of direct delivery of services to children and young people.

I grew up in a fostering family, and have been surrounded by fostering, children and young people for most of my life, this has clearly informed my career path over the years.

I have previously worked within the Independent Fostering Sector as a recruitment coordinator so have knowledge and understanding of the recruitment process and the skills and attributes needed for potential foster parents. I am confident in building relationships with applicants and supporting the application process through to panel,

I have seen the need for more therapeutic foster care/placements for children. It’s apparent we need therapeutically trained, empathic, insightful and reflective carers to care for and meet the needs of the young people in the care system.

I have over 20 years experience working with children and young people across Residential and Supported Accommodation settings.

Hi I’m Vanessa. I’m a skilled, motivated and emphatic senior manager with 23 years social care experience gained in the UK & Ireland across public, private & voluntary sectors across children and families service. I have a particular specialism in permanence which includes fostering, adoption (domestic and intercountry), kinship, special guardianship, panel, residential, children with disabilities, placements and care leavers. I have extensive experience across the permanence agenda, having worked across a number of Local Authorities and IFA’s primarily in the London and South East region.

My career to date has afforded me the opportunity to work as a practitioner, middle manager and senior manager to help bring about change and most importantly improving life chances for cared for children and young people.

Managing fostering services both in local authority and IFA settings have been consistent lead areas of responsibility throughout my career to date. I am passionate about making a difference to children’s lives and truly value and admire the invaluable role foster parents provide and am excited to lead evolve in the next phase of their journey.

I qualified as a social worker in 2005. I started my social work career working in independent fostering services and has extensive experience in social work, management, and quality assurance. Following many years undertaking the Supervising Social worker role and being responsible for the supervision, support, training, and development of a team of foster carers within a wellestablished and reputed fostering service. I established FosterCare UK with Jonathan and undertook the Registered Managers role, Panel Advisor, QA director and Agency Decision Maker (ADM).

Hi, I’m Beth.

I’ve been a qualified social worker since September 2022, with a strong background in local authority work. I have experience of working in a children in care and forensic social work team.
I’m a passionate, empathetic, and skilled practitioner, deeply committed to ensuring children grow up in therapeutic, trauma-informed environments where they can thrive.
I’m excited to be joining Evolve Therapeutic Children’s Services to help deliver the best possible outcomes for children in care.

I have worked within the independent fostering sector for most of my career; after finishing college my first role was as an Administration Assistant at Fostering Support Group, I then went onto work for FosterCare UK as the Recruitment Co-ordinator, following this I then worked in estate agency for around 5 years and in IT recruitment for nearly 2 years. I am now pleased to be returning into the foster sector again as Compliance Manager at evolve, working alongside a great team of people.

I’m Neve, the administrator for evolve.

I have been a part of the Therapeutic team for over a year. I am enjoying learning about the effects of Trauma and Therapeutic Parenting whilst developing my administrative skills.

I have over 7 years childcare experience where I was a SenCo, and 5 and a half years admin experience within the NHS.

I am really looking forward to seeing what my skills can bring to evolve and I’m looking forward to learning new skills along the way.

I am a single parent to my 8 year old daughter who has recently been diagnosed with ADHD.

Hi I’m Sarah and I am a qualified social worker who has been working in fostering for 10 years. Before this I have worked in Supported Housing and Domestic Abuse. I have, over the past 10 years, been heavily involved in the preparation, assessment, and training of prospective foster carers. I always want to make sure that fostering is right for you and your family as well as any potential child. Having spent some years supervising carers, I know how essential good support is to enable carers to do a role that is both challenging and rewarding. What I am always looking for in cares is warmth which I believe can’t be taught and a professional approach. I am always excited to meet carers at the beginning of their journey and to know their experiences further along their path.

I am an Independent Panel Member and Panel Chair. I have over 30 year’s experience working in the children’s services sector, including 18 years with the Local Authority and 10 years establishing and running my own childcare provisions. I am a parent and former foster carer.

My background is in education, working in the sector for over twenty-five years, encompassing all age groups from primary education through to university. In addition to teaching, my roles have had a focus on quality improvement, pastoral support and widening participation, including for children in care and care leavers. I have been an independent representative on fostering panels for thirteen years, in the roles of education adviser, vice-chair and chair, and I have also been involved in the development and delivery of training programmes for both foster carers and panel members. I have two birth children and two step-children, and live with my husband and youngest children just outside Canterbury.

I am a retired Police Officer and was a Detective in Kent Police for 30 years. In my spare time I enjoy long walks with our energetic dog and attending sporting events where I can; in particular I’m a keen follower of both Derby County and Maidstone United football clubs.

My career within the Police centred on the CID and I have extensive experience in crime investigation. I was a member of Kent Police’s Serious Crime Unit and following promotion I eventually led the Anti-Corruption Unit at Police Headquarters.

Hello my name is Michael and I am married, with two young football mad boys. As a result my life has transformed from aspiring football coach and taxi driver! I am passionate about providing an input to the fostering sector and have been fortunate enough to undertake the role of independent panel member since 2010. The role of panel member combines my studies (Social Sciences BSc Undergraduate, and Psychology PgDip) alongside my family background- I was adopted at birth in a mixed-race family. I feel as a ‘care leaver’ I can evaluate and contribute care applications in a different way to professionals. Adding value to the panel process gives me great satisfaction. My full-time role is vastly different and gives me a sense of balance. I manage a large team of IT Recruitment consultants in the City of London. I take great pride in mentoring and developing my team and servicing a wide range of clients across all sectors.

Hi, I’m Jennie. I live with my husband, teenage daughter and assorted pets.

I have worked with children ever since my mid-teens, be it in nurseries, primary schools or in colleges, the latter of which involved mentoring and advocating for teenagers in a pastoral role.

I have also served in a voluntary capacity via my local church for many years and set up and ran a successful Baby and Toddler Group for over 10 years.

Other opportunities enabled me to co-lead a trip to Vietnam to work with families and children living in the poorest of areas of Ho Chi Minh city. I am currently part of the wider leadership team within the church and alongside, my husband, coach a small group of leaders and bible studies for teenage girls.

I live and work in Kent and until recently was a GP with over 30 years experience in Primary Care. I’ve been the Medical Advisor to a number of Fostering Agencies and have been involved as a Panel Member for some years. My wife is a School Nurse and I’ve 2 adult children.

I have a broad background in Education having worked in schools and universities. As a primary teacher I taught children between the ages of 3- 11 years before specialising in supporting SEND children as an advisory teacher and SENCO. I have also run a nurture group for permanently excluded children successfully re-integrating the majority back into full-time education. Later in my career I worked in universities as a programme director on a primary PGCE course and later ran a masters programme in education for teachers and other professionals wishing to gain a MA qualification.

Throughout my career I have championed the importance of putting the needs of children first to ensure they are given the best opportunities to succeed and to reach their full potential.

I started my career as a dance teacher and experienced dancing around Europe within a touring show. As a child growing up, I had always wanted to be a midwife, and so attended college and then university to gain the qualifications needed to follow my dream. I have worked in the NHS for 19 years and have been very privileged to have shared the journey to parenthood, with all the highs and lows that brings, with many people along the way.

 

Hi, I’m Sian.

I have been a foster carer for my Local Authority for 9 years and I am passionate about fostering.

 

Before fostering I worked as an Occupational Therapist within the NHS, with roles across mental health, learning disabilities and physical health.

With three birth children we have a busy home but in my spare time I enjoy baking, reading and travelling. 

I am looking forward to being part of the fostering panel and being able to share my passion for fostering with others. 

I’m a Social Worker with 15 years experience and a Mummy to two beautiful (and very active) children. Both roles keep me busy and every day I learn something new!

When I first qualified in 2010 I worked in a Children’s Safeguarding Team, before choosing to focus on fostering. For the majority of my career I’ve worked within fostering and have experience of supporting foster carers in Independent Organisations as well as the Local Authority. I have also worked with special guardians and kinship carers.

In 2023 I made the decision to become an Independent Social Worker and it’s provided me with lots of opportunities to work with some amazing organisations and people. I’ve had the privilege of assessing potential carers, completing their annual reviews and working with fostering panels.

I love what I do and I’m passionate about ensuring that children have the opportunity to live in a safe and loving home. I also enjoy meeting foster carers and supporting them on their fostering journey, and look forward to meeting you at panel today.

“I have been a Children & Families Social Worker since 2002 when I joined the Local Authority and worked within several different front-line teams, working closely with police, health, education, and other key agencies to promote and safeguard the safety and welfare of vulnerable children. Working my way up to Team Manager, Gaby has experience of managing Duty & Assessment teams and an Out of Hours Service, where the support of children in care and close liaison with their foster carers to achieve the best outcomes for children is a key requirement. As a Practice Educator and somebody who enjoys supporting and developing the practise of others, I have supervised both social workers and foster carers, helping them to reach their full potential whilst progressing their individual career paths. I have also provided training to foster carers on a variety of different subjects. Now working solely as an Independent Social Worker, I specialise in assessing prospective foster carers, exploring both their current strengths and areas for development, whilst supporting them through every stage of the process. As an excellent communicator, I readily engage applicants helping them to feel at ease, offering important encouragement and guidance as they embark upon their” fostering journey.”

I am a qualified social worker with over 12 years experience in statutory children’s social work. My experience includes working as a social worker, senior practitioner and team manager for Kent and other Local Authorities across London in various teams such as Referral and Assessment, Child Protection long term, Care Planning and Fostering teams.

In August 2022 I became an Independent Social Worker undertaking a wide rang of complex reports in relation to children and families in need and parenting assessments within the Pre-Proceedings framework as well as cases within Care Proceedings, Private Law Proceedings, SGO etc.

My expertise is with children in care and fostering, areas on which I have focussed since 2015, enabling me to become an experienced Form F Assessor and undertake assessments of prospective foster carers for Independent Fostering Agencies, Local Authorities and sit in Fostering Panels.

I have experience of working with and assessing families from a wide range of cultures and ethnicities including families whose first language isn’t English. Throughout my career, inherent in my practise, is a commitment to ensure equal opportunities and embracing all cultures, ethnicities and diversities.

I’m a Social Worker with 15 years experience and a Mummy to two beautiful (and very active) children. Both roles keep me busy and every day I learn something new!

When I first qualified in 2010 I worked in a Children’s Safeguarding Team, before choosing to focus on fostering. For the majority of my career I’ve worked within fostering and have experience of supporting foster carers in Independent Organisations as well as the Local Authority. I have also worked with special guardians and kinship carers.

In 2023 I made the decision to become an Independent Social Worker and it’s provided me with lots of opportunities to work with some amazing organisations and people. I’ve had the privilege of assessing potential carers, completing their annual reviews and working with fostering panels.

I love what I do and I’m passionate about ensuring that children have the opportunity to live in a safe and loving home. I also enjoy meeting foster carers and supporting them on their fostering journey, and look forward to meeting you at panel today.

Hi, I’m Jill. My background is as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, I have worked in a variety of different fields, including drug and alcohol street agencies and rehabilitation centres through to residential children’s homes and specialist fostering agencies.

In more recent years I trained further in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, an evidence-based intervention for trauma. I am also a long-term foster parent, with three teenagers currently with me.

I’m a clinical psychologist working in both the NHS and private practise. I did my undergraduate degree here in Kent and I completed my clinical doctorate training in Sheffield.

I have worked in a variety of different settings in the NHS: including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Child Development Clinics and in various adult settings. My main clinical interests are in how mental health professionals can support foster carers to build resilient, compassionate and caring placements, and how assessment and formulation can inform this process.

I have worked with children and families for over 20 years in a variety of different roles, including working in the NHS and local authority.

As a family therapist., I have worked in several different CAMHS teams across the country and worked with children and families with a range of presenting difficulties including eating disorders, OCD, depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, trauma, and many more. I have worked with children in a care in a range of contexts including a specialist fostering provision and specific children in care CAMHS Team.

I have many years of experience working with children and families in all variations and am passionate about creating a safe and non-judgemental space where we can think about difficulties together and nurture change.

I am a qualified and HCPC Registered Drama therapist. I was previously a secondary school drama teacher. I have also spent most of my career working in the field of sexual abuse, exploitation and domestic violence. I now work primarily as a drama therapist for looked after children and I deliver training and reflective practise to staff in children’s homes. I am also a trustee for a sexual abuse charity.

Dramatherapy is a ‘bottom up’ approach to therapy. Meaning that, in relation to trauma, it begins with the brain stem, the non-verbal part of the brain. I use a variety of styles of play and art forms withing therapy, and I used a client led approach, with safety and attachment being the key focus.

I am a registered mental health nurse (RMN), independent prescriber, and children’s therapist, specialising in working with young people who have experienced early life trauma and adversity. I currently work with looked after and adopted young people across NHS and private settings. I work holistically with young people, their carers, and their schools, completing mental health assessments, considering diagnosis and treatment, and offering trauma-focused play and cognitive therapies.