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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.
St Christopher’s East and South East team work with foster carers, children and young people across Essex, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.
We are a small, personable team, so you will always know who you are talking to when you call us or drop in for a chat at one of our offices. This includes support workers, who do one-to-one work with the children and young people in your care.
Our comprehensive training programme can be tailored to meet your individual needs and the needs of the young person in your care, so that you have the knowledge and skills to make a difference. On top of this, we offer a healthy pay and benefits package to all our foster carers.
Listening to children is at the heart of everything we do. We have developed children’s forums to hear their views and incorporate them into our plans. We love to celebrate the successes of our children and foster carers and get together at fun, family events.
Our office in Stevenage supports our growing fostering community in Essex, Southend, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire to access training and support groups.
Our fostering Statement of Purpose for the region can be found here Statement of Purpose St Christopher’s Fostering Eastern Region
Mairéad qualified as a social worker in 2001. She has worked in a variety of settings both in Ireland and England including child and family team, mental health, family group meetings and adoption support. She joined St Christopher’s in June 2021 as a Senior Supervising Social Worker in fostering. She enjoys promoting and supporting fostering to ensure the best possible homes and care for children. The child is at the heart of what she does and she likes to support carers in understanding both the previous and inner experiences of the child to ensure stability and to enable them to fulfill their full potential.
Pauline has more than 25 years’ experience as a social worker and has worked in residential, childcare and fostering services. As the Registered manager for the Eastern Region, Pauline is keen to build on the excellent work our foster families offer to achieve even more better outcomes for children in care.
Amy joined St Christopher’s in 2015 and works one-to-one with young people up to the age of 18. The sessions are led by the young person’s needs. One of her goals is to highlight the different things in life that are open to young people, especially the things they may not have considered. Amy’s approach is to understand where their talents and interests lie, and then work together on removing any obstacles to develop those talents and interests. Ultimately, her work with young people is about building a relationship based on mutual trust and respect, and empowering them to get more out of life.
Katya has worked in Independent Fostering Agencies since 2003 and has been a qualified social worker since 2013. She enjoys working closely with foster carers and the children they look after, building strong and supportive relationships and helping to work towards positive outcomes. She has greatly enjoyed her time at St Christopher’s so far and looks forward to many more years of supporting carers and the children they care for to grow and flourish.
Debbie has worked at St Christopher’s since 2008 and has extensive experience in the charity sector. Debbie manages the panel that recommends new carers to foster for St Christopher’s and meets them again when they return for their Annual Reviews. In her personal life she has some experience as a family and friends foster carer so really enjoys working with our fostering teams. She has also volunteered for children’s charities and really enjoys following our foster carers’ journeys.