Find out how you become a kinship carer, and what to expect from the process.
Our services in Surrey
If you’re a kinship carer in Surrey, we’re here to support you through our Kinship Connected programme and our Kinship Ready preparatory workshops. Meet our friendly team, get specialist help and join a support group.
On this page
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What is Kinship Connected in Surrey?
We’re working with Surrey Council to support special guardians across Surrey as part of our Kinship Connected programme.
What is Surrey Kinship Ready?
Alongside our Kinship Connected programme in Surrey, we also run online preparation workshops for special guardians.
These workshops support new or prospective special guardians to understand their role, parental responsibility, where they can access support and how trauma and attachment can affect their kinship child.
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 Surrey Council. We can only give you one-to-one support once we receive a referral.
Kinship Connected
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 Lisa (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.
Kinship Ready
As with Kinship Connected, your Surrey local authority team will refer you.
You’ll have a chat with Helen, our Kinship Ready Worker who will talk you through what to expect in the workshop and any particular needs you might have. If you don’t know who to access Zoom, she’ll help you to get online.
The Kinship Ready workshop is 4 hours in total, with breaks throughout.
How do I access support?
We’ve been commissioned to support special guardians who are referred from the team at Surrey Council. You’ll need to contact the SGO Support Service (part of Family and Friends Team) to discuss what support you can access.
Telephone: 0300 1231630
Email: sgo.postordersupport@surreycc.gov.uk
"Hello, I’m Lisa and I have been at Kinship for 4 years. I love working with kinship carers because they bring so much love and strength to caring for children in their family. Supporting them through the ups and downs of caregiving is incredibly rewarding, and I’m constantly inspired by their commitment to keeping families together. Watching them create safe, loving environments for is children is such a fulfilling experience."
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 Surrey and all kinship carers are welcome to join.
This means that we have several support groups which you can join where you can share experiences and chat to other kinship carers. The support groups are run and facilitated by Lisa.
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 Surrey, please get in touch with us at programmes@kinship.org.uk to find out more about our support group and events.
"Hello my name is Helen, I deliver the online Kinship Ready workshops for Surrey. I feel both humbled and inspired when I talk to carers. They all have a different story to tell, very unique kinship journeys and most importantly they step up every single day. My background is in managing domestic abuse support services, as well as support for women in prison. I look forward to meeting you online. "
Celebrate Kinship Care Week 2024 in Surrey!
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.
Get more support
Explore our free online and in-person training and events.
Peer support groups are a great way to meet other kinship carers, share your experiences and exchange advice. Find your nearest group.
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