Family & Friends - Kinship Milton Keynes

Serving Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire

© Family & Friends - Kinship Milton Keynes formerly known as Grandparents’ Support Group 2012 - 2022                                                                    

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Past News & Events > Report for 2017 - 2018


We had a busy year with visiting speakers and new members.  

 

Sept 2017 - Joanne Rabbitte, Head of Delivery for Corporate Parenting MK.  Joanne was new to the post and we wanted not only to introduce the group to her but also to highlight the need for Milton Keynes to have it’s own group, organised by the local authority.  She visited with Peter Harrell, an improvement consultant, who has been appointed to update the policy and procedures in Milton Keynes and to make recommendations concerning the future of the service.

 

Celebration day in September at Gulliver's World MK – hosted again by Grandparents Plus.  We were disappointed not to be able to obtain tickets for this event, although It was encouraging to know that the tickets went so quickly and that so many Kinship Cares would be attending.  We raised the question with the organisation regarding the distribution of the tickets and we’ve been advised that in 2018 the distribution will be arranged differently.  We hope that more of our members will be able to obtain tickets in 2018.

 

October - Jessica Whalley.  As part of a community initiative, Santander visited us to raise awareness about fraud and scams and how you can protect yourself. Jessica and a colleague gave a short talk and chatted with our members about keeping safe from fraud and scams.

 

November - Michelle Mellor, the Virtual School Head Teacher, visited the group to explain this organisation.  The Virtual School liaises with schools, foster carers and other professionals to support children in care with their education. Support for children and young people can include sessions in school or after school with tutors.  This proved to be most interesting, particularly as some members did not know about this help for their children.  A very valuable morning.

 

Beverley Campbell, an Advisor and Advocate for Family Rights Group also visited us. (Click here to visit their website.) We support and get support from Family Rights Group and so it was a good morning to catch up with all that this organisation is doing.  It was Family Rights Group that initially helped us to set up the group twelve years ago.  We often signpost members to FRG if they need support and advice that we are unable to answer, particularly any legal questions.  There is so much information on their website; they also have an advice line.

 

January 2018 – Jo Raine - Jo is the Advice Manager for Grandparents Plus. She visited us to advise on the services that Grandparents Plus provides, particularly the advice service. She also answered many of our group's questions. It was good to catch up with Grandparents Plus, as with FRG, Grandparents Plus also provides valuable support to members.  We often signpost members that have questions we are unable to answer to their advice line and website.