The time had finally come to start my new role as a Hampshire Hive Carer Support Worker. It had felt like an age since my appointment to the role and I was chomping at the bit to get started and begin work alongside my Hive Families but alas…mandatory training put a stop to all of that!
For me personally it has been a number of years since I worked within an organisation like HCC so had forgotten about the processes that need to happen prior to getting stuck in. So here I was, sat at home with my new hybrid attempting to link it to my new phone whilst flicking through the pages and pages…and pages of training that I needed to complete. These training courses included some expected mandatory courses such as Corporate Inductions, Data Protection, Microsoft and Teams as well as topics directly related to fostering such as Therapeutic Parenting and Trauma Informed Practice. I must say, I was more interested in the latter.
On a more positive note, meeting the other new recruits and our newly appointed Assistant Team Manager on day one was an exciting day. Just to be able to leave the house and meet with adults in this current climate was an excitement in itself, let alone being able to go and sit and have a coffee (outdoors of course) and for us all to chat openly about how exciting this new role is going to be.
The six new recruits come from all different backgrounds and have taken different paths within our fostering lives so will no doubt be able to lean on each other for additional advice and support when it comes to supporting our own Hive Families.
If you are reading this and you are wondering how to join a Hive, then I highly recommend you speak to your supervising social worker and see if it is something that could work for you. I was very lucky when I began fostering to have a wide range of experienced carers to go to for support and queries and we know that this isn’t the same for everyone.
So, regardless of whether you are an experienced carer, connected carer or newly approved if you feel that you and your family would benefit from having a strong support network around you then please do get in touch. We will be there to celebrate with you on the good days and to pick you up on the not so good days. We’ve all been there, experienced the challenges that fostering brings to our everyday lives and had the same thoughts about our fostering future, but we are all still here and doing a fantastic job in our children’s lives.
I for one am really excited to get going and I can’t wait to meet you… only a few (hundred) more training sessions to complete!