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Our mission is to create brighter futures for children and young people. We do this by providing fostering, residential and support services where children and young people can feel safe and cared for. We support them to make positive relationships which give them the confidence to succeed.
2022 saw staff and young people engaged in revisiting and re-visioning our philosophy of care. Leaders from across the organisation met with colleagues across all services in open dialogue to discuss the central values and beliefs that join us in purpose to provide brighter futures for children and young people. The process of devising the philosophy of care drew across five thematic areas; ‘What do we as an organisation believe about children and young people’, ‘What aspirations do we have for them?’, ‘What do we want them to experience?’, ‘What do we believe about society and anti-racist practice?’. Colleagues input was distilled into foundational statements that encompassed the sentiments expressed through their responses. Young people were engaged through participation activities to examine each of these foundations, whether it resonated with them, what it meant to them and how it would look and feel in lived experience day to day.
Our aim was to respond to feelings isolation and disconnection created by the Covid pandemic. Through listening to our team about why they choose to do the work they do and what they hope and believe about children and young people. We hoped to be able to re-connect with each other in a meaningful manner and together, re-orient to the purpose of what we do. The new philosophy of care takes us back to that core function and what we all believe in, our values and beliefs and the best outcomes for young people. We are a child centred organisation and the philosophy of care is built upon this belief. It is the shared resolution that gets us all out of bed on a morning and come to work. No matter what role we play in the organisation we all come to work to achieve the best for children and young people and meet their diverse needs. Our philosophy encompasses all of the passion, drive, enthusiasm and commitment within the organisation and gives a very clear message about what we believe in. It is a compass for the culture of the organisation a co-produced foundation of the organisation expanding upon and giving greater direction to our main values and mission.
Within our Philosophy of Care we determined 6 core areas at the heart of the approach as highlighted below.