As we approach the end of 2019 our team at My Foster Family want to share some amazing moments that we have had this year and look forward to updating you with our key achievements in 2020 and beyond!
January
January 2019 saw the birth of My Foster Family. My Foster Family was founded by CEO Shadim Hussain with the aim of creating a faith and culturally sensitive and diverse fostering recruitment and training organization which aims to find the best foster placement to meet the needs of foster children in the UK.
“Since completing my final report on the care system for the Department for Education, I’ve had a number of approaches from independent fostering agencies, none of which I’ve pursued. But I have been impressed for some time with Mercy Mission and the imaginative and innovative approach they have taken to improve recruitment and attract new carers to fostering, particularly those from minority backgrounds. So, I’m delighted to agree to be the first Chair of My Foster Family, the new not for profit organisation which will take forward Mercy Mission’s pioneering work.”
– Sir Martin Narey Chairman of My Foster Family
In January we also started a partnership supporting Bradford Council in helping to recruit foster carers and this was the start for My Foster Family in taking the step to support local authorities around the UK.
February
In February we were delighted to have our second local authority Rotherham sign up!
March
March was an exciting time for us here at My Foster Family where we had our official launch event which was held at Parliament in the UK.
We were also delighted to welcome Lewisham as our third local authority to sign up for the recruitment of foster carers for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
April
In April we ran our successful Foster Friday Campaign where we held events up and down the country at mosques to raise awareness about fostering in the community and also visited local authorities to give out our gift boxes to help foster carers who were looking after a Muslim child.
May
In May we held a number of Iftar (breaking fast) events during the month of Ramadan as part of our Hope is Here campaign! We were also delighted that CEO Shadim Hussain and his father were invited to represent My Foster Family at the Queen’s Garden Party.
June
In the summer we saw the launch of the Arise Mentoring Schools Programme. We were pleased to welcome guests and mentors from the Bank of England, Bradford University, Migration Yorkshire, NHS and PWC alongside our launch partner Carlton Bowling College and our brilliant refugee mentees. The team was also delighted to welcome Croydon Council as our fourth local authority partner!
July
On the 10th July My Foster Family alongside Home for Good, Leeds Council, Kirklees Council and York Council launched the Faith in Fostering project.
The Bank of England visited My Foster Family HQ to learn more about our work and meet some of the refugee families supported in Bradford.
August
August was a quiet month with most of the team taking time out to catch up with family. Eid al Adha once again presented an opportunity to distribute gifts to Muslim children from cross cultural placements and we are proud to have sent our 1000 gift box to thirty local authorities over the last two years.
September
In September My Foster Family held an exhibition at the Muslim Council of Britain’s national mosque conference where we launched our 100mosques100families campaign. Our aim is to work with 100 mosques to each find 1 foster family in 2020.
October
October proved to be a phenomenal month for My Foster Family. We were selected by the government to join a national steering group for adoption. We were delighted to welcome Rochdale and Liverpool councils as our latest foster care recruitment partners.
During National Adoption week My Foster Family was able to reach 60 mosques across the country which helped raise awareness about the need for more BME adoption families through delivering the Friday sermon.
November
On the 25th November My Foster Family in partnership with The Fostering Network and BCBN launched the Muslim fostering project report at Coram in London. We were privileged to have a diverse range of professionals from across the sector including representatives from the Department of Education, Ofsted, Coram, Children’s England, local authorities, independent foster agencies and senior BME and faith voices.
December
In December we had a successful launch event in partnership with Leeds City Council and One Adoption West Yorkshire. We have had a busy year and look forward to sharing more key highlights as 2020 progresses. Please continue to keep supporting our work at www.myfosterfamily.com
