This week Scott and I headed to that London to speak to Annie Crombie the CEO of the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies. A unique opportuity for us to leave the studio and speak to someone in person Annie has a unique perspective and some interesting thoughts on the short term future of adoption agencies. An interesting and thought provoking chat.

This week I delivered an hours talk on Child on Parent Violence for the the training company @celandt at a free public lecture at the University of Sunderland. I've taken a little snippet of it to give people an idea of the content. 

If you'd like to hear more and can get to the free event on the 12th July pm in Islington. You can book your free space by emailing

This week we speak to Mike Armiger about caring and parenting children who have experienced sexual abuse. At times it's a frank conversation and obviously it's a difficult and upseting subject matter so I advise caution and ensure that little and sensitive ears don't hear it. 

Scott and I round it up but as you can imagine banter is turned down in light of the tone of the podcast. ]

We also give a heads up to a couple of events that we're going to and the release of the Podcast's own Twitter Feed @adoption_pcast 

I hope you find it useful and if anything has helped or you'd like to know more then please get in touch through Twitter or [email protected]

This week we chat to Harvey Gallagher the CEO of the Nationwide Association of Fostering Providers. It's #fostercarefortnight and he shares his thoughts on weaknesss and strengths of the foster care system as well as the challenges of professionalisation and what the future holds. 

As always Scott and I indulge in a little light banter and share our own experiences of being foster carers and thoughts on it all. 

Thanks for downloading & listenting.

With it being Foster Care Fortnight it would seem appropriate to talk about Fostering. So, we called on our old friend Blair Mortimer, adoptee and Foster Carer, to chat about his experiences including moving children onto adoptive homes. 

As always Scott and indulge in some banter, and share our own experiences of being foster carers that adopted. 

We also indulge in some flippant nonsense as we introduce a new feature!

We hope you enjoy

Honor Rhodes is the Director of Strategic Development at Tavistock Relationships. I interviewed her about the impact of adoption, and parenting in general, on the quaity and stability of parents relationships. 

 

As ever Scott and I sandwich the interview between a subtle blend of whit and banter, or at least we think so. 

If you think that you may benefit from the service then here's a link to their website that gives you contact details.

http://www.tavistockrelationships.org/relationship-help/adopting-together

From their website

'Tavistock Relationships is offering FREE support for adoptive parents, funded by a grant from the Department of Education. The Adopting Together Service is OFSTED registered and is designed to help couples take care of their own relationship, manage the stresses of parenting and enhance their children's lives. We welcome both heterosexual and same-sex couples.

Working with our experienced therapists in a safe and confidential setting, you can be helped to think about the issues that may be affecting your relationship.'

This week we have the second part of the interview with Hugh Thornbey the outgoing CEO of Adoption UK.

Scott and I indulge in a little banter and bring a lighthearted skew to all things adoption.

This is the first part of an interview with Hugh Thornbery the CEO of Adoption UK. Hugh is retiring at the end of March and I took this opportunity to discuss some specific isssues in relation to the Adoption Support Fund and other issues that have been addressed during his tenure.

The second half will be released on the 26th March 2017 with Scott on tap to offer insight and whit.

This is a Special Podcast to recognise LGBT Adoption & Fostering Week - 2017.

 

Al has taken a well deserved week off... kind of... so I locked the door to the studio, twiddled a few knobs and hey presto here you go!

 

I talk to Ruth, a lesbian mum and Calvin, a gay dad about some of the ups and downs of both becoming an LGBT Adopter and parenting as one.

 

Al and I will be back next week as usual. Enjoy this Special and share it far and wide... we still need more LGBT adopters and foster carers.

In this episode we interview Jane Pickthall the incoming Chair of the National Association of Virtual School Heads (NAVSH) and discuss the needs of children and the role of the Virtual Heads. This is a cracking interview and an insight to professionals that work with and influence many schools as they educate and care for vulnerable children. 

Scott and I hit our stride and enjoy the cut and thrust of our usual banter, enjoy. 

Here are the links to NAVSH website and twitter handle.

http://www.navsh.org.uk

@NAVSH_UK