North West Foster Care

Three foster children hugging

“Anyone thinking of fostering, give Swiis a call. Fantastic agency, excellent training and brilliant support.” Ian, Swiis Foster Carer, North West.

In the heart of the North West

The Swiis North West fostering service was founded in October 2000 and was initially based in Manchester city centre before relocating to Old Trafford Manchester in September 2009. The office is located just two miles from Manchester centre and is serviced well by public transport. The site also has ample free parking for staff and visitors.

Swiis opened an additional office in Lancashire in 2010 which is home to our Lancashire-based foster care support workers. The office is within the attractive St Mary’s Chambers building and is a stone’s throw from Whitaker Park in Rawtenstall.

Who works in the North West?

Management Team

Manchester Foster Care Registered Manager Wendy Keillor

Wendy Keillor
Registered Manager

Wendy has a wealth of experience through various social work settings, including fostering and adoption teams within Local Authorities. As the Registered Manager, Wendy is responsible for the social work team, as well as the overall safeguarding and well-being of all the children and young people placed with carers in the North West.

Supervising Social Workers

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

Manchester Fostering Supervising Social Worker Sherry Waugh

Sherry Waugh

Blackpool Foster Care Supervising Social Worker Rebecca Marshall

Rebecca Marshall

Bolton Foster Care Supervising Social Worker Bernice Quarshie

Bernice Quarshie

Foster Care Supervising Social Worker Alice Quinn

Alice Quinn

Placement Workers

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

Manchester Foster Care Placement Worker Charlie Pare

Charlie Pare

Manchester Foster Care Placement Worker Rachel Hallsworth

Rachel Hallsworth

Health and Education Advisors

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.

Rochdale Foster Care Education Advisor Lynne Mackin

Lynne Mackin

Manchester Fostering Health Advisor Linda Cunningham

Linda Cunningham

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.

Liverpool Foster Care Administrator Emily Hare

Emily Hare

Fostering Administrator Jade Porterburns

Jade Porterburns

Commercial Team

The Swiis Foster Care Manchester team is 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 hold support groups for carers on a bi-monthly basis, including two ‘Forward Together’ groups. Our ‘Forward Together’ groups give looked after young people aged 13+ a chance to share their experiences of fostering and to join in with activities focussing on developing self-esteem and independence.

Every year we host a fun day for all our carers, children and young people, including a variety of activities and games, as well as a BBQ. We also have an annual Christmas party, open to all carers, children and young people. These events give our carers, their families and the Swiis staff a chance to interact and socialise with each other, as well as sharing their fostering experiences.

Young people who have left Swiis Foster Care are encouraged to stay in touch with us and some go on to help with ‘Moving Forward’ workshops, sharing their experiences with young people about the reality of moving on and living independently.

Areas Covered Include:

Blackpool | Bolton | Blackpool | Bury | Cheshire East | Cheshire West and Chester | Halton | Knowsley | Liverpool | Manchester | Oldham | Rochdale | Salford | Sefton | Stockport | Tameside | Trafford | Warrington | Wirral | Wigan

Training locations

We can adapt to locations and accessibility where necessary for our clients/customers.

Manchester North West Foster Care Swiis

Office Information

ADDRESS

15 Warwick Rd
Old Trafford
Manchester
M16 0QQ

WHO WORKS HERE

Registered Managers
Deputy Managers
Social Workers
Placement Support Workers
Education Advisors
Health 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.

Father and foster child fishing

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?

Boys celebrating soccer goal