About us

What are we about?

Here at Olive Branch Fostering, we don’t just extend the hand of peace – we use it to connect and bring together children in need with the foster carers and families who welcome them with open arms.  

Working with communities across northern England, we represent and work for children and teenagers in foster care and the families and individuals who can open their homes to foster placements. This gives us the privileged position of identifying truly beneficial fostering types and matches – focusing on placing young people in the best environment to meet their needs and support their growth.  

Offering a diverse range of fostering types, we work with young people of all ages and backgrounds – often removing them from abusive or problematic home lives as we seek to give them the chance at a better life.  

So, when you become a foster carer with Olive Branch Fostering, you receive end-to-end support from the initial application to your first, fifth, and fiftieth placement. For many carers and families, we recognise that fostering is a journey that lasts a lifetime – turbulent with challenges and rewards, highs and lows. And while we understand that every foster placement is unique and that every foster family has their approach and boundaries, our training and support team are here to ensure that you feel confident and empowered every step of the way.  

Foster carers are many things to many people. To us, you’re the heroes who help us to help thousands of children every year. To our community, you’re part of a growing network.  To them, you're home. 

How do we work at Olive Branch Fostering?

We pride ourselves in the cohesive community spirit that unites our team with every foster carer that joins us on their journey. We work daily to match children and young people in care with the foster homes across the Northwest of England that best support their individual needs – whether that placement is a single night, a week, a short break, or a long-term move. 

No matter the length of placement or the situation in which a child finds themselves in care, our job is to maintain consistency and security for every young person we meet and to support each of our foster carers so that they can be there for every child that needs them. 

Our aims and objectives

Aims

To provide high-quality, stable placements in a caring and family environment 

And finally, to implement and streamline services and systems across the organisation to ensure children and young people can grow and develop within the five outcomes of Every Child Matters: 

• Be healthy

• Stay safe

• Enjoy and achieve

• Make a positive contribution

• Achieve economic well-being

Our objectives

• To provide a safe and nurturing environment for the children placed in our care and one in which they are able to develop and reach their full potential.

• To provide a service of the highest quality with a commitment to maximising the full educational, social, psychological, and physical potential of children placed with the organisation.

• Providing a service which promotes and safeguards the physical and emotional welfare of the children placed in our care, recognising their cultural and religious backgrounds, and maintaining their sense of identity.

• To provide an out-of-hours service which is fully responsive to the needs of our foster carers and children/young people and is available 24 hours a day.

• Respecting and promoting the racial, cultural, religious, and linguistic backgrounds of children and young people at all times.

• To adhere to our policies and procedures and to continually monitor and evaluate the services provided.

• To prepare, support and train foster carers to enable them to provide a high-quality specialist service.

• To work in close partnership with local authorities to promote and safeguard the best interests and welfare of the child/young person.

• To retain foster carers and staff through a strategy that ensures they are appropriately supervised, supported, rewarded, and developed.