- Kinship Care NI

Northern Ireland
Kinship Care
Keeping families together
ISSUE 14 | May - June 2016
HERO OF YOUTH AWARDS 2016 | HARD AS OAK CHALLENGE | KINNECTIONS PROJECT IS 1 YEAR
OLD | INFORMATION DAYS RAISE AWARENESS | QUEENS FAMILY DAY | 4 STEPS TO SUCCESS |
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME | THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU | SIBLING TIME
| FUN FRIDAYS | KINDNESS DAY | TEENBEAT DJ SHOWCASE | HEROBOOK TRAINING | KUDDLES
BOOK SELLS OUT | NEW SUPPORT GROUP IN DUNGANNON | SMALL CHARITY WEEK | 2016
CHARITY GOVERNANCE AWARDS | BIG THANK YOU | FORTHCOMING EVENTS |
In This
Issue
Hero of Youth
Awards 2016
A huge congratulations to Danielle McGinley who
received a ‘Child of Courage’ Award and 20 children
who picked up a ‘Special Recognition’ Award at
the Hero of Youth Awards in Belfast. Thank you to
everyone involved in the Awards and to Erin and
Ellen at the Derry Journal who created a short film
highlighting the achievements of children who
attended the Awards. To watch the film
https://vimeo.com/168010878
‘Hard as Oak’ Challenge
Staff at Find Insurance NI done themselves and us proud by completing the
‘Hard as Oak’ challenge to raise money for children in kinship care. Well
done to all the staff who got involved and we are delighted everyone got
safely over the finish line.
ARE YOU A
GRANDPARENT
RAISING YOUR
GRANDCHILDREN
?
Kinship Care NI run KIN TOGETHER Support Groups for kinship carers in
Derry/Londonderry, Belfast, Larne, Cookstown, Draperstown, Dungannon,
Portstewart, Magherafelt and Antrim.
For more information contact us free on
0800 022 3129
‘Kinnections’ Project is 1 Year Old
Our Kinnections Project is officially 1 year old and we are delighted to be working in partnership with Buttle UK to
make a big difference to kinship carers and the children they care for. To mark the occasion we created an infographic
summarising the success of the Project. For more information on the Kinnections Project and services available
contact Emma on 028 79301566 or Ruth on 028 71373731.
SU P P O RT I NG K I N SHI P FAM I L I E S
OUR IMPACT IN 1 YEAR
79 KINSHIP CARERS and 119 children
746
TELEPHONE
CALLS
RECEIVED
AND
FOLLOWED
UP
ENGAGED IN SERVICES
108 CHILDREN 23
ATTENDED
12 ACTIVITIES
KINSHIP
CARERS
and
45
CHILDREN
46
3
KINSHIP
CARERS
ATTENDED
TRAINING AND
INFORMATION
SESSIONS
12
ATTENDED SUMMER
SCHEME ACTIVITIES
24
36
KINSHIP CARERS
KINSHIP CARERS
ATTENDED 'KIN
TOGETHER' SUPPORT
GROUPS
VISITED IN THEIR OWN
HOMES
VOLUNTEERS RECRUITED
36
MEETINGS
ATTENDED
11
CHILDREN
DESIGNED THEIR OWN
SUPERHEROES
Information Days
Raise Awareness
‘Kuddles’ our Kinship Care Bear and staff members Emma and
Charlene were out and about raising awareness of kinship care. A big
thank you to everyone who came along to information sessions in
the Meadowlane Shopping Centre in Magherafelt, the Tower Centre
in Ballymena and the Abbey Centre in Newtownabbey. If you would
like to find out more about the work of Kinship Care NI contact
Leona on 028 71373731 or Michelle on 028 79301566.
65
GRANTS
97
DISTRIBUTED TO
CHILDREN
y
a
D
y
l
i
m
a
F
s
Queen
Kinship carers and their
children were treated to a day
of fun, laughter and lots and
lots of activities at Queens
University in Belfast. Children
had an amazing day and fall
asleep on the way home.
Thank you to Dr. Clare Ryan
and all the staff at Queens
University for organising a
fantastic day and for giving
children in kinship care a day
to remember.
‘4 Steps to
Success’
Young people completed a 6 week programme
focusing on confidence, self esteem and goal
setting. Thank you to Dominic at Goal4Youth for
delivering the Programme and supporting young
people. For more information on upcoming
programmes contact Roisin on 028 71373731.
Personal
Development
Programme
Children were presented with certificates after
completing a 6 week Personal Development
Programme. Thank you to Tomas for delivering
the Programme and Denis and ‘Kuddles’ for
celebrating with children their success. To find
out more about our next Personal Development
Programme contact Roisin on 028 71373731.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
We took the opportunity
during Volunteers Week
to say a big THANK YOU
to our volunteers who
give their time freely
to supporting children
and young people in
kinship care. To find out
how you can become a
Kinship Care Volunteer
and help make a
difference to the families
we support contact
Leona on 028 71373731.
Sibling Time
KINDNESS DAY
Congratulations to Danny Porter who was
nominated and shortlisted by the Diana Awards for
a Kindness Award. Danny used his birthday money
to organise an evening meal for his family.
To mark Kindness Day children made cupcakes
and delivered them in person to individuals and
organisations to emphasis the importance of being
kind and celebrating our differences. Even our
postman received a cupcake!
Children completed a 8 week sibling time programme
and spent lots of special time with their brothers and
sisters getting involved in arts and crafts and confidence
building activities. For more information on our sibling
programmes contact Roisin on 028 71373731.
Fun Fridays
Children
decided to hold
a ‘Fun Friday’
where they
played video
games, had
lots of fun and
even held a
birthday party!
For more
information
on Fun Fridays
contact Leann
on
028 71373731
Teenbeat DJ Showcase
Young people
organised a disco and
put their DJ skills to
the test last week at
The Playhouse.
The event was a huge success
and there was a special
appearance by the amazing DJ
Johnny O’Neill. Huge thanks
to Jonathan from Movin Music
Academy for working alongside
young people and helping us raise
£353.02!
Herobook Training
Kinship carers in Antrim and Magherafelt completed
a 4 week Herobook Training Programme where
they developed new friendships with carers from
their area and For more information on training
courses for kinship carers contact Charlene on 028
79301566.
CONTACT
KINSHIP CARE NI
BELFAST
Contact
Emma Gault
Tel: 028 79301566
DERRY / L’DERRY
Contact
Leann Harris
Tel: 028 71373731
‘Kuddles’ Book
Sells Out
2,500 copies of
our storybook
‘Kuddles Goes
to Live with His
Granny’ are in
schools and
libraries across
Northern Ireland
and in the homes
of families
everywhere even as far away
as Canada. New
books have been
ordered and
these will be
available for sale
via our Centres,
Amazon and
Ebay in the next
few weeks.
BALLYMENA,
NEWTOWNABBEY
AND
CARRICKFERGUS
MAGHERAFELT,
ANTRIM,
COOKSTOWN AND
DRAPERSTOWN
Contact
Emma Gault
Tel: 028 79301566
Contact
Charlene
Tennyson
Tel: 028 79301566
DUNGANNON AND
PORTSTEWART
Contact
Ruth McGilligan
Tel: 028 71373731
New Support Group in
Dungannon
Small Charity Week
A new ‘Kin Together’ Support Group is up and running
in Dungannon. Support group meetings will take place
each month and all kinship carers are welcome. For more
information contact Michelle on 028 79301566.
‘Kuddles’ and volunteer, Kirsty celebrated Small Charity
Week by handing out information and lots of goodies in the
Richmond Centre in Derry / Londonderry. Thank you to
everyone who came along to help out and support us.
2016 Charity Governance
Awards
Big
Kinship Care NI were one
of three organisations
shortlisted at the 2016
Charity Governance Awards
in London under the
‘Improving Impact’ (4-25
staff) category. Thank you
to everyone for a great
evening in London. We had
an amazing time.
Forthcoming Events
THANK YOU
Thank you to Denis and Sharon Oris who held a fundraising
event in the Waterfoot Hotel and raised £1,000. Thanks
also to the folks at Qualivend Ltd for donating sweets and
chocolate for our Teenbeat Disco. We very much appreciate
your support.
WELCOME
RUTH
5th July 2016
Adventure Land
2nd August 2016
The Gruffalo
7th July 2016
Lazer Space
9th August 2016
Tropical World
8th July 2016
Garton Residential
11th August 2016
Cliff Hanging
14th July 2016
Quad SafarI
31st August 2016
Jumping Lanes
Ruth McGilligan is the
newest member of
our team based in our
Kinnections Project.
For more information on forthcoming events visit kinshipcareni.com/events/
THANK YOU
We would like to thank everyone for supporting our work with kinship
carers and their children. We would especially like to thank AllstateNI,
Buttle UK, the Derry Journal, the Londonderry Sentinel, Queens
University, CMAC Academy,Goal4Youth and Reading Rooms. Thanks
also to the Cookstown and Magherafelt Volunteer Centre, North West
Community Network, the Playtrail, Find Insurance NI, O’Keefe Estate
Agents, Qualivend Ltd, Young Foundation, Social Enterprise NI, Start 360,
The Playhouse and the Belfast Telegraph.
We would also like to thank the Big Lunch, Alley Kat Design,
Groundworks NI, North West Migrants Forum, Meadowlane Shopping
Centre, Derry and Strabane District Council, Centre for Effective Services,
the Richmond Centre and everyone involved in the Hero for Youth and
Diana Awards. Special thanks also to Jonathan Delaney from Movin
Music Academy, Tomas Logue, DJ Johnny O’Neill, Claire Ryan, Jessica
Caldwell, Donna Wilson and Sharon and Denis Orsi.
KINSHIP CARE NI 67 Carlisle Road, Derry/L’Derry BT48 6JL
www.kinshipcareni.com | Head Office: 028 71373731 | Helpline: 0800 022 3129 | Email: info@kinshipcareni.com
 facebook.com/kinshipcareni  twitter.com/KinshipNI
Kinship Care Northern Ireland is a
charity registered with the Charity
Commission for Northern Ireland, No.
NIC101036 and a Company Limited
by Guarantee, No. NI602969