Cain has spent the last twenty years working with looked after and adopted children and his appointment will have a positive impact on the development of services for adoptive families. Our new recruits represent an exciting time for PAC-UK and we are happy to welcome Cain and other members on board. We also look forward to establishing new initiatives which will be launched in due course. We have also appointed Context Public Relations to help us develop our media presence and publicise our adoption support services across the UK. If you would like to find out more about PAC-UK please contact the London or Leeds office.  Peter Sandiford, CEO of PAC-UK |
| Training |
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Parenting with PACE - Playfulness, Acceptance, Empathy and Curiosity (London) Monday 2nd November 2015 The PACE programme is based on the work of Dan Hughes and the DDP model and has proven successful for children who have experienced trauma. Attendees will learn the principles of PACE and allow them to explore its role in parenting. Click here for more information |
How to Make Robust and Thorough Child Assessments – Top Tips (London) Thursday 21st & Friday 22nd January 2016 Being able to make a robust and thorough child assessment is vital for professionals working in adoption and permanency planning. This new workshop, led by Dr Karen Treisman, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Author, will provide professionals with ‘top tips’ for such assessments. Dr Treisman has extensive experience working in adoption and the training will be practical, providing attendees with assessment strategies, tools and techniques. Click here for more information |
| Services |
| Introducing First Family Service: Supporting Birth Parents and Relatives for a Brighter Future |
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PAC-UK provides a range of services to parents, carers, guardians and professionals who care for looked after, adopted or otherwise permanently placed children in their care. To find out more about PAC-UK’s education, children and adult support services click here. In this issue, we’re focusing on our First Family Service which helps birth parents and relatives who are dealing with the consequences of a child no longer being with them or the possibility of it happening in the future. First Family is designed to help birth parents and relatives come to terms with decisions that they often feel are out of their control, explaining the confusing process of adoption and what that means for parent and child – now and in the future. Our team of trained counsellors look at the reasons why a child has been removed and what needs to change for subsequent children to remain with their birth family. For more information visit our website http://www.pac-uk.org/firstfamily/ |
| Industry News |
| Saying Goodbye to BAAF |
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Earlier this summer The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) – the long standing and well respected umbrella organisation for fostering and adoption within the UK shut its doors for the last time. The closure of the highly respected organisation is a major loss to the sector. BAAF has transferred some of its functions to the Coram Group including the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) under the name CoramBAAF and the National Adoption Register which will come under First4Adoption. |
PAC-UK CEO, Peter Sandiford has expressed his personal concern over how these government funded services have been allocated to another charity without appearing to follow due process.
BAAF Northern Ireland and BAAF Wales will continue to operate for a brief period to allow consideration of options to transfer some services and staff to an alternative provider. |
| What does an 'adoption friendly' school look like? |
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As part of a Department for Education funded grant, PAC-UK’s Education Service are developing a framework to support schools to work towards becoming more 'adoption friendly.' This consultation aims to gather views about what works well from adoptive parents, special guardians, school staff, education and adoption professionals, and adopted adults with recent experience of education. We are using an online survey to ask for your views and would be so grateful if you could complete the form by clicking here. |
The survey will be available until December 2015 so please distribute the link to your own networks and mailing lists. Many thanks for helping us make schools more adoption friendly! |
| Meet the Staff |
| Effecting Change in Adoption Support: An Interview with Child and Family Manager Cain Snipp |
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Cain Snipp has worked with children and families since 1986 in statutory, voluntary, private and NHS organisations. Much of this time has been spent working with looked after and adopted children. He is registered with the British Association of Psychotherapists having undertaken a psychoanalytic training and is a qualified Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist. He also holds qualifications in Social Work, Play Therapy, Counselling and Theraplay. In this exclusive interview Cain explains new innovative approaches to child and family therapeutic services and his plans to enhance adoption support across the UK. ...read more on our website here |
| Fundraising |
| Flying High on Fundraising Success |
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Each year PAC-UK staff and supporters take part in a number of regular sporting and fundraising events across the UK to raise awareness and donations for the charity. This year our team administrator apprentice Sophie Kemp took to the skies to raise awareness of the charity and reach her fundraising goal of £1,000. She completed an eye-watering skydive wearing a pair of Frank Skinner’s Elvis pants which the comedian had donated during a previous PAC-UK auction. Thanks to Sophie’s sterling efforts and nerves of steel she exceeded her target raising £1,400 in total - we would like to thank Sophie for all her hard work and support. ...read more here |
| Running Rings around Regent’s Park |
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We are looking forward to participating in this year’s Regent’s Park 10k which takes place on the 15th November in Regent’s Park, London. Each year, PAC-UK enters a team to run (or walk) the course, with all sponsorship money going directly to the charity. Our CEO Peter Sandiford battled the elements last year coming in a little under his personal best; fingers crossed he can beat his record this year. We always welcome participants so if you are interested in running on behalf of PAC-UK please email sophie@pac-uk.org. Alternatively if you would like to donate you can do so by visiting our Virgin Money page. ...read more here |
| Current Vacancies |
| We have several vacancies at PAC-UK in both our London and Leeds offices. If you are interested in any of our positions then click on the links below; please note that we do not accept CV applications so use the application forms provided. PA to CEO/HR Support Salary: £24,206.62 - £26,952.57 Working Hours: Full time (part time will be considered) Location: London, NW5 Outreach Counsellor/Advice Line Worker Salary: SCP Point 32-39 (£27,924 - £33,857 pro-rata) Working hours: 3 days (21 hours per week) 12 month fixed-term contract Location: Leeds, LS15 Outreach Counsellor Adult Services Salary: Competitive rates Working hours: Sessional workers required across the Leeds and North East region Location: Leeds, LS15 Sessional Child & Family Arts Therapist/Psychotherapist/Psychologist Salary: Circa £40 - £50 per clinical hour Working hours: As and when required Location: North Yorkshire, Durham, Cumbria, Newcastle and Northumberland |
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