Midlands & South Region Foster Care

mixed race foster family on beach

“This is a fantastic company to work for. Lots of support, superb training. Always someone on the end of the phone if needed.”

Swiis Foster Care Midlands and South Region was originally set up in 2002 in Birmingham, and later in Bristol, South West in 2013. The Birmingham registered office covers the whole of the Midlands region whilst the Bristol hub office covers the South West and South East area, both serviced well by public transport.

We have over 150 fostering families in the Midlands and South Region and together with our expert team of social workers, placement support workers, education & health advisors and administrators , we have been rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in October 2021.

We work with local authorities, spanning from Derby, Leicestershire, Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Sandwell, Solihull, Coventry, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Telford & Wrekin, Herefordshire, Worcestershire to Gloucestershire, Somerset, Bristol, Bath, Swindon, Dorset, Poole, Devon, Cornwall, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Southampton, Bournemouth, Isle of Wight, as well as the Inner and Outer London Boroughs to place children with our fostering families to provide a safe, secure and stable home.

Who works in the Midlands and South Region?

Management Team

Laurie Long Director of Swiis Midlands and South

Laurie Long
Director of Swiis Midlands and South

Laurie qualified as a social worker in 1995. Prior to joining Swiis, Laurie spent 12 years working in the voluntary sector; within NSPCC as Quality and Performance Manager and as Operational Director for Action for Children, responsible for fostering services in the south of England. Laurie has also been a foster carer.

Birmingham Team Manager Donnarissa Douglas

Donnarissa Douglas
Team Manager

Donna Douglas is a Team Manager with Swiis, having been a qualified social worker for over 8 years.

Midlands and South Team Manager Stephanie Burrell

Stephanie Burrell
Team Manager

Midlands and South Fostering Service Manager Rachel Wardell

Rachel Wardell
Fostering Service Manager

Supervising Social Workers (Midlands)

These are the people that offer help and support to our foster carers, meeting periodically to discuss problems, successes and everything in between.

Birmingham Foster Care Admin Assistant Zoe Jones

Zoe Chance

Birmingham Supervising Social Worker Megan Hayward

Megan Hayward

Supervising Social Worker Chloe Clayton

Chloe Clayton

Birmingham Foster Care Supervising Social Worker Melanie Hill

Melanie Hill

Birmingham Foster Care Supervising Social Worker Stefani Gjevori

Stefani Gjevori

Birmingham Foster Care Supervising Social Worker Roisheen Simmons

Roisheen Simmons

Birmingham Foster Care Supervising Social Worker Fraju-Sebastian

Fraju Sebastian

Supervising Social Workers (South Region)

These are the people that offer help and support to our foster carers, meeting periodically to discuss problems, successes and everything in between.

Bristol Fostering Supervising Social Worker Terry Goodwin

Terry Goodwin

Health and Education Advisor

The Education workers role is to promote achievement and attainment, continuity of learning and stability in educational placement for children in permanent foster placements. The Health Advisors at Swiis are responsible for monitoring the health needs of children and young people placed with our foster carers. They also liaise with health professionals to ensure all information is available and provides training to carers regarding child health and development.

Bristol Fostering Education Advisor Gareth Thomas

Gareth Thomas

Placement Workers

These are the people that offer emotional and practical support to young people, ensuring the safeguarding and smooth running of placement.

Edgbaston Foster Care Placement Worker Georgia Jones

Georgia Jones

Birmingham Placement Support Worker Leigharna McCulloch

Leigharna McCulloch

Midlands and South Placement Support Worker Jade Moran

Jade Moran

Administrators

Administrators at Swiis not only look after the day-to-day requirements of the office, organize foster carer reviews and panel administration, but also act as the first point of contact to our carers and are an integral part of the team in ensuring all our carers are fully supported and very much a part of the Swiis family from the word go.

Oldbury Foster Care Administrator Sophie Cooper

Sophie Cooper

Birmingham Foster Care Admin Assistant Zoe Jones

Zoe Jones

Gloucestershire Foster Care Administrator Beata Olah-Wood

Beata Olah-Wood

Foster Care Administrator Flynn Donnelly

Flynn Donnelly

Commercial Team

The Swiis Foster Care Edgbaston & Bristol teams are supported by the Central Commercial team who are responsible for Marketing, Training and BM support, Recruitment of Foster Carers and matching and placement of our children and young people.

Commercial Management Team

Director of Operations Paul Jamieson

Paul Jamieson

Commercial Director Jill Notchell

Jill Notchell

Operations Manager Ashley Holcombe

Ashley Holcombe

Behaviour Management

Swiis believe that supporting our foster carers well is essential to ensure the stability of the children and young people you care for and our social workers do an incredible job in providing that support to all carers.

Research and experience have however shown that children who experience trauma and separation in early childhood can have a turbulent and challenging adolescence and this may be a possible reason a placement can, at times, become unstable.

Swiis believe that our foster carers on occasion require additional support in understanding and learning techniques which would further assist in the management of difficult or challenging behaviours and have introduced an additional programme of support which our carers will be able to access directly. The programme has been specifically designed to offer support and guidance to carers who experience behaviours from the child or young person in placement which they are finding difficult to manage.

The team consist of specialist training personnel who are responsible for delivering the Challenging Behaviour training as part of the mandatory foster carer training programme (or for new carers, this is undertaken as Day 4 of the preparation training), both cover MAPA based Challenging Behaviour as part of the course content.

Foster carers can access The Behaviour Management Team directly to request support for individual carers who are experiencing problems with behavioural issues in placement. Calls from carers requesting support are managed via a dedicated admin team who will schedule a call back between the carers and a member of the BM team as a matter of urgency.

Swiis trainer Jordon Murdoch

Jordon Murdoch

Swiis trainer Jackie White

Jackie White

Placement Team

The Placements Team will identify a suitable referral of a child or young person in need of a fostering placement that matches the Foster Carer's profile, the area they are based, approval range, family composition and fostering experience.

Foster Care Senior Placement Officer Nirali Patel

Nirali Patel

Placement Administrator Florence Whelon

Florence Whelon

Placement Administrator Rhian Welch

Stacey Slipper

Placements Officer Stacey Slipper

Rhian Welch

Placements Admin Jackie Crisp

Jackie Crisp

Placements Officer Joel Gould

Joel Gould

Placements Officer Bryony Ferris

Bryony Ferris

Placements Officer Rebecca.Hewitt

Rebecca Hewitt

Recruitment Team

Recruitment Team Leader Sarah Kitson

Sarah Kitson

Emily Saunders Senior Foster Care Recruitment Coordinator

Emily Saunders

Recruitment Coordinator Rhiannon Payne

Rhiannon Payne

Recruitment Admin Beth Jones-Grimshaw

Beth Jones-Grimshaw

Recruitment Coordinator Kate Godwin

Kate Godwin

Support Group 

We currently have five Midlands Local Carer Groups based in:

  • Birmingham;
  • Stourbridge;
  • Walsall;
  • Staffordshire;
  • Telford/Shrewsbury.

And three South Region local carer groups based in:

  • London and the South East;
  • The South West areas of Devon, Cornwall and Bristol;
  • Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

Giving our new foster carers plenty of opportunity for finding a group close to their home.

These groups are for foster carers to get together and support each other, whether this is just to talk about their experiences of fostering or share transport or childcare for meetings and training. The lead person in each of our Local Carer Groups is called a “buddy” and they are the main contact for the group.

Training locations

Birmingham
We offer foster carer training in our main office in Edgbaston in the West Midlands which is a short walk from Five Ways train station. The venue offers good access to Motorways and the City Centre and has adjacent parking and Wi-Fi.

Telford
We also provide a Telford training facility in the heart of Telford, approximately 1 mile from the train station, within easy access for anyone living in the Shropshire/Wolverhampton area. This location is adjacent to the shopping centre and offers lots of parking in the area.

Bristol
Located in the Queens Square area of Bristol City centre on Prince Street, the new South region fully accessible office is purpose built to meet the needs of our foster carers with large meeting rooms and ample parking.  Prince Street is easily accessed by public transport.

Devon
Situated just outside Exeter with easy access to the M5, the training facility is at a former Georgian Manor.

Dorset
The training facility for Dorset is at Allendale House which is a Georgian building owned by the East Dorset Heritage Trust. It’s located in a small attractive market town in the heart of Dorset. Easy to get to for those travelling from Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole and Salisbury areas.

Office Information

BIRMINGHAM ADDRESS

24 Highfield Road
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 3DP

0121 452 7120

BRISTOL ADDRESS

4th Floor
Prince House
Prince Street
Bristol, BS1 4PS

01179 065 291

WHO WORKS HERE

Registered Managers
Social Workers
Placement Support Workers
Education Advisors
Administration Team

Start Your Fostering Journey

With thousands of children coming into foster care in the UK everyday, we urgently need foster carers more than ever.

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Refer a Friend

Do you know anyone who would be a fantastic foster carer who has the skills and compassion to support a child or young person in need of a loving home?

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