Life story work with children in kinship care workshop: Brighton

Conference Room, Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE

Join our free workshop about life story work. Learn what it is, when to consider it, techniques to carry it out (and get support), as well as how it can help kinship children build a positive self-image. Our workshops are a place where you’ll meet other kinship carers just like you and where you can connect and learn together.

On this page

Click on the link below to take you to the section you'd like to read:

  1. About the event
  2. About the venue
  3. Accessibility
  4. Who will be there?
  5. Who runs this workshop?
  6. Book your space
  7. Get in touch

About the event

This workshop for kinship carers who want to learn more about life story work (LSW).

Kinship carers are family or friends who step up, often during an unexpected crisis, to care for a child when their parents aren’t able to.

You’ll explore what LSW is, when to consider it, techniques to carry it out (and get support), as well as how it can help kinship children build a positive self-image.

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to:

  • understand what LSW is, and the positive impact it can have on mental health, emotional intelligence/resilience, self-esteem and identity
  • help children navigate LSW that focuses on what’s relevant to their needs, understanding and situation – including wider family context and impact
  • recognise what effective LSW looks like specifically for children in kinship care
  • use existing useful LSW and research, to develop practical, relevant LSW strategies specific to kinship care, as well as each child’s life stage/understanding level
  • acknowledge the potential impact of difficult LSW discussions on children and carers, and how to approach this sensitively, with self-care in mind
  • find and explore further information and support

You are invited to stay after the workshop to have a free lunch and connect with the other kinship carers. Please make a note of any dietary requirements in the booking form below.

After the workshop you will receive information and the presentation slides by email, along with a feedback survey.

About the venue

Our Kinship workshop takes places at The Conference Room, Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE. The venue is in a central location and easily accessible by public transport.

Driving and parking in Central Brighton can be difficult – however you can use the Jubilee Car Space for a fee.

A number of buses go to North Street including the 2, 5, 18, 21, 47, 52, 55, 60 and 77 (this stop is a 2-minute walk from the library).

To plan your journey, visit Brighton & Hove buses.

 

The nearest station is Brighton, which is a 8-minute walk from the venue

To plan your journey and buy train tickets, visit National Rail or Trainline.

For more details about Brighton Station, visit Brighton Station on National Rail.

 

Accessibility

The venue is wheelchair accessible with step-free access. If you have any additional accessibility needs, you will be asked about this in our booking form. Please let us know so we can make this event as comfortable as possible for you.

Who will be there?

Our events are a warm, supportive space to learn about this topic, as well as meet and connect with other kinship carers.

This event is open to up to 25 kinship carers. Unfortunately, we ask that children do not attend this event. Local authorities will not be in attendance.

Who runs this workshop?

The workshop is run by Dr Paul Shuttleworth, who will be joined by Michelle Hall as co-facilitator.

Please note that Paul and Michelle are contracted to Kinship for this workshop, having worked with us and kinship carers to develop it. Kinship is not responsible for any content they produce outside these workshops.

About Dr Paul Shuttleworth:

Paul is a registered social worker, having worked in practice with children and families for 20+ years, as well as in a kinship care team in Brighton and Hove. Paul completed his PhD (“What Matters to Children Living in Kinship Care”) in 2021, and worked at Sussex University as a BA social work professional officer, associate tutor, postdoctoral fellow, lecturer and research associate, as well as a senior lecturer at Kingston University. His book ‘Navigating Relational Spaces’ came out in Aug 2024, but he’s previously published and edited work in a variety of publications. Paul’s interests include listening to and valuing children’s views, kinship care, permanence, dialogical participation, critical realism, value-led research and practice, and breaking down the theory-practice divide.

Headshot of Dr Paul Shuttleworth

About Michelle Hall:

Michelle is a kinship carer for her 13-year-old grandson, having also been his special guardian for 10 years. She is a university lecturer, teaching students interested in working with children, young people, and families – as well as social work apprentices training for leadership roles. Her previous roles include leading services for young adults with learning disabilities and autism, family support and childcare.

Headshot of Michelle Hall

Book your space

When you book your free place, we’ll ask you about your experience as a carer, your gender, age, ethnicity and other demographic information. This helps us make sure that the services and experiences we offer are as inclusive as possible and that our advice is relevant to your locality.

We will also ask about your accessibility needs. This is to ensure that you have a comfortable experience on the day.

Event system information





Event information
Unfortunately, registration for this event has now closed. We're eager to see you at one of our future events, so please keep an eye out for our announcements.
Interest

Thank you for your interest in our event. To make the day a success we need to ask some questions about you.


If you are completing this form on behalf of someone else, please make sure that you enter their personal details and not your own. 

This event is now full, but you can still provide your details to join the waiting list. If a space becomes available we will reach out to complete your full registration.


Thanks for your interest in this event. This event is for kinship carers only, please visit our professionals pages for more information about what support and services we have available for you. Alternatively, please contact our Network Development team at networks@kinship.org.uk
Your details:
Please enter the name of the person attending the event and fill in a new booking form for each adult.

Unfortunately, children cannot attend.




Please enter your mobile number starting with "07" and without spaces as this will result in the form erroring.


The number you have provided does not appear to be a UK mobile number.

Please provide a valid mobile number (i.e. should start with "07" and not be a landline/home phone), as this will be used to send important updates via SMS.
Accessibility

At the event we want to ensure that you have a comfortable experience. Please take a few moments to share your thoughts and needs with us so we can better accommodate you.



We are providing free refreshments and lunch at the event. 
(Please note we cannot ensure that there won’t be cross contamination between foods) 




We understand how important it is to address your support needs, accessibility requirements, dietary requirements and/or allergies. If there are any concerns or if we are unable to meet your needs, we will reach out to you to discuss. 
Photo/Video Consent
Kinship may take videos and/or photographs at these events to use externally to promote the work the charity is doing, including to help show other kinship carers what our roadshows are all about.

Inclusion

At Kinship we ask about your gender, age, ethnicity and other demographics as well as a bit about your experience as a Kinship carer. This is to help us make sure that the services and experiences we offer are as inclusive as possible and our advice is relevant to your locality. Please note that you have the option to respond "prefer not to say".







Care






Emergency contact details
Sometimes things happen on the day that we can't plan for. We want to make sure we are able to contact someone if that happens and we need to reach your emergency contact. This person cannot be someone who is also attending the event.



Please enter your telephone number without spaces to prevent the form from erroring

Additional information






Data protection - Kinship is committed to making only responsible use of your data. By agreeing to our data protection policy you give consent for us to keep you up to date on our news, events, campaigns and resources by email, direct mail and telephone. We will not share your data with any 3rd parties. For further details you can view our privacy policy at https://kinship.org.uk/privacy/

Thank you for completing registration. We look forward to seeing you soon! 
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Contact Information

Get in touch

Our Kinship team can answer any questions you might have about this workshop. Please email us on workshops@kinship.org.uk.

We have other workshops planned across England. To find out where and when they will be, keep an eye on our events page as we update it with more events or email us at workshops@kinship.org.uk.

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