At the end of January we were finally able to hold our first in-person open evening. This was a joint event with Home for Good and (www.homeforgood.org.uk) and examined the role of foster carers and supported lodgings hosts including the differences between the two.

In total, 13 people attended the event in Histon including representatives from Ely Diocese, Cambridgeshire County Council and Romsey Mill.  A highlight of the evening (along with the free cake) included the space for questions and answers with a number of these captured below:

Can I be a host and continue to work full-time?
Yes!  Hosts are encouraged to continue to go about their usual routines including working, hobbies, holidays, weekends away etc.

What if there is a language barrier between the host and the young person?
Where young people come from overseas (particularly in the case of unaccompanied asylum seeker children) we will work hard to aid communication particularly by sourcing a relevant individual to act as an interpreter.  Alan (Home for Good representative and current foster carer of two children with English as a second language) also noted that he manages to muddle through with body language, facial expressions and other gestures and that it is possible to communicate love, care and safety in ways other than using words.

How does Concrete Rose support the young person (particularly into work)?
Each young person in a supported lodgings host is allocated a youth worker who supports the young person to develop their skills and interests including pursing education and work.  In addition, we are currently building relationships with a range of businesses in order to facilitate work experience opportunities in the future.

(More responses to a number of frequently asked questions can be found in our host information guide here.)

Following on from this evening we are looking forward to putting on more in-person events at the start of 2022.  This includes an informal evening of ‘conversation and cake’ for existing and ‘would-be’ foster carers and supported lodging hosts to be held at C3 church on the 14th March.  To keep up-to-date with information about this event, and others, please follow our social media channels.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Rev. Chris Farmer and Histon Baptist Church for kindly providing the venue for this event.  We hope to come back soon!