Peer support groups are a great way to meet other kinship carers, share your experiences and exchange advice. Find your nearest group.
Our services in Northumberland
If you’re a kinship carer in Northumberland, we’re here to support you through our Kinship Connected programme. Meet our friendly team, and join a support group.
On this page
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What is Kinship Connected in Northumberland?
We’re working with Northumberland Council to support special guardians across Northumberland as part of our Kinship Connected programme.
What’s a special guardian?
A special guardian is someone (or a couple) named on a special guardianship order (SGO). This is a private law order made by the family court. The person or people named on the SGO will become the child’s special guardian.
How we can support you
If you’re a special guardian this means our Kinship Family Worker will connect with you when we receive a referral from Northumberland Council. We can only give you one-to-one support once we receive a referral.
The support we can give you depends on what you need. We’ll work with you to develop a plan to help you with the things that you feel are most urgent or where you have identified you would like support.
You’ll meet Elaine (Senior Kinship Family Worker) and she’ll work with you over 6 months to support your plan.
This could mean help with things like:
- if you’d like support to talk to your school about what your child needs – this could about a special educational needs and disabilities diagnosis
- accessing support from other organisations – if you or your kinship child has experienced bereavement for example
- getting access to therapeutic support through the adoption and special guardianship fund
These discussions are confidential, we are an independent charity. If a safeguarding concern is raised we will talk you about what that means and our duty of care.
How do I access support?
We’ve been commissioned to support special guardians who are referred from the team at Northumberland Council. You need to contact the Northumberland Connected persons team to discuss what support you can access.
Email: kinship@northumberland.gov.uk
Tel: 01670 62 62 62
"Hello, I’m Elaine and I’ve been with Kinship since July 2023. I’m proud that families let me into their lives to help and support them on their journeys as a kinship carer. Every day is different in my working week, and every family's needs are different too. I’m always here to help. "
Senior Kinship Family Worker
I’m not a special guardian – can you still help?
Yes, at Kinship we are here to support all kinship carers. We’re building a community in Northumberland and all kinship carers are welcome to join.
This means that we have a support group which you can join where you can share experiences and chat to other kinship carers. This support group is run and facilitated by Elaine.
There are also other local peer support groups which are organised and led by kinship carers, which you can also join and they would love to welcome you.
Throughout the year we also run local events and celebrations.
If you’re a kinship carer in Northumberland, please get in touch with us at programmes@kinship.org.uk to find out more about our support group and events.
Celebrate Kinship Care Week 2024 in Northumberland!
Kinship Care Week is Mon 7 October until Sun 13 October 2024. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the incredible role you do! You can get involved by sharing your experiences.
Are you a kinship carer in Northumberland – do you need more help or support?
Explore our free online and in-person training and events.
There are lots of different ways you can access help and advice from Kinship.
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