Your team

“I can’t remember a time when I haven’t been surrounded by fostering. My parents fostered many young people over a period of more than 30 years and in March 1989 set up the second independent fostering agency in the UK. I joined this fostering service in 1991 and from 2002, I undertook the role of Operations Director and was integral in supporting the board of directors to expand the range of fostering, residential and educational services across the Southeast. Due to retirement and exit of the founding directors in 2005, I undertook the Responsible Individual and Managing Director role until 2007. After this I established FosterCare UK in May 2007 with my partner Alison Finn. My focus being strategic planning and establishing this new fostering service as a pioneer in therapeutic fostering that this service is now nationally known by. I used my key strengths in business development, contracting and commissioning, partnership working and setting high standards to drive this service forward.

Given my many years of strategic, HR, financial, operational and compliance experience, I will continue to use these strengths to support evolve Therapeutic Children’s Services, and look forward to develop a range of children’s services across the group, over the coming years.”

“Since graduating university over 25 years ago I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with children in a variety of roles.

My career initially started in residential services where quickly I found a passion and love in being able to see the impact of the work I was doing and I was luck enough to manage my first home within 5 years. Following this I have had a series of roles as a senior manager overseeing various services such as children’s homes, fostering agencies, therapeutic services and education.  Prior to joining Evolve I spent 4 years working for Ofsted. This gave me the opportunity to truly understand all types of services that look after children and meet some incredible people along the way.

I have also studied at post graduate level in systemic psychotherapy. The concept of therapeutic care for children started off as an interest and is now a passion of mine and I look forward to helping Evolve grow its services with our strong therapeutic values at the core of what we do.”

“I am an accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing practitioner (EMDR). Registered with both the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) and the EMDR Association.

For the past eighteen years, I have worked in the NHS as a senior clinician in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CYPMHS) specialising in working with looked after children. Prior to this, I worked across various fostering and residential fostering agencies, providing individual trauma informed therapeutic interventions for the young people and reflective supervision groups and training for the staff. I also trained in Dyadic Development Psychotherapy a psychotherapeutic treatment method for children and families with complex trauma and attachment difficulties.

My area of interest and specialism is the impact of trauma on children and young people in the care system and providing targeted evidence-based interventions, for the children, young people and those that care for them, thereby improving the social and emotional outcomes for these children.

I have over 20 years’ experience providing training to social workers, foster carers and adopters in the area of trauma and parenting traumatised children and young people.

My interest in the field of trauma also extends to my role as a foster carer parent, having fostered young people for over fifteen years, enabling me to better understand and empathise with the rewards and challenges faced by foster parents on a daily basis.’

My name is Jason Button, after working in residential care for 8 years rising from residential worker to managing two children’s homes. I decided that I wanted to work in a position to affect change for children so began pursuing a social work degree which achieved in 2017. During my career I have remained passionate about advocating for children in a world where sometimes process takes priority over meeting needs and simply making relationships and caring about how they think and feel. I have worked as a domestic violence advisor ensuring that victims of abuse receive the best outcome’s for them in court which was not always convictions or prison sentences for the people who harmed them. I have worked within local authorities with children in care and in the courts ensuring that children and families are supported and ensuring children are at the centre of decision making. I have supported foster carers as a supervising social worker and I also managed the placement of children, matching the strengths of children to the strengths of carers. I decided to join evolve as I feel the service aligns with my value’s. Putting children at the centre of the planning, implementation and maintenance of the support they receive in a way that I haven’t seen before. I am very excited to play my part within this service.

“I have been working within the evolve group since graduating university in 2020.

Starting as evolve’s office administrator, to office manager. since doing these two roles, I have found the career path I would like to take is within HR. I am currently completing a CIPD Level 5 in People Management to help develop my skills further.

I enjoy the variety of my role and supporting the senior management team in delivery outstanding services for children and young people.”

“I started my career in finance at Pfizer Ltd on a YTS (Youth Training Scheme) after finishing college.  I stayed there for about 8 years, then joined a merchandise company in Margate working there for 4 years.

The next 12 years saw my finance career move into the Independent Fostering Sector, working at FSG then at FosterCare UK.

I have since worked in a local secondary school for just over 5 years, and now looking forward to making my way back to working in the Fostering Sector again.”

“After spending eight years, and a pandemic, in retail I decided the time was right to leave the only career I had ever known to pursue my passion for PR and Marketing.  I enjoy my varied role with the evolve Group, supporting and delivering recruitment, marketing, and social media strategies, whilst ensuring high standards are met in terms of direct delivery of services to children and young people.”

“I have been a Children & Families Social Worker since 2002 when I joined the Local Authority and worked within several different front-line teams, working closely with police, health, education, and other key agencies to promote and safeguard the safety and welfare of vulnerable children. Working my way up to Team Manager, Gaby has experience of managing Duty & Assessment teams and an Out of Hours Service, where the support of children in care and close liaison with their foster carers to achieve the best outcomes for children is a key requirement. As a Practice Educator and somebody who enjoys supporting and developing the practise of others, I have supervised both social workers and foster carers, helping them to reach their full potential whilst progressing their individual career paths. I have also provided training to foster carers on a variety of different subjects. Now working solely as an Independent Social Worker, I specialise in assessing prospective foster carers, exploring both their current strengths and areas for development, whilst supporting them through every stage of the process. As an excellent communicator, I readily engage applicants helping them to feel at ease, offering important encouragement and guidance as they embark upon their” fostering journey.

“I am a skilled, motivated and emphatic senior manager with 23 years social care experience gained in the UK & Ireland across public, private & voluntary sectors across children and families service. My specialism is in permanence which includes fostering, adoption (domestic and intercountry), kinship, special guardianship, panel, residential, children with disabilities, placements and care leavers. I have extensive experience across the permanence agenda, having worked across a number of Local Authorities and IFA’s primarily in the London and South East region.
My career to date has afforded her the opportunity to work as a practitioner, middle manager and senior manager to help bring about change and most importantly improving life chances for cared for children and young people.
Managing fostering services both in local authority and IFA settings have been consistent lead areas of responsibility throughout my career to date. I am passionate about making a difference to children’s lives and truly value and admire the invaluable role foster carers provide and am excited to join Evolve in the next phase of their journey. I too am a mum to three teenagers and can relate to the many joys and challenges a caring role provides and look forward to meeting with Evolve fostering families very soon

I qualified as a social worker in 2005. I started her social work career working in independent fostering services and has extensive experience in social work, management, and quality assurance.

I find it a privilege to work with children and families and have learnt a lot from the families I have supported so far.
My role as a supervising social worker has been very rewarding and fulfilling, whilst I understand that there is still a vast amount of knowledge and information that is still out there waiting to be received. I am always ready for a challenge.
I enjoy swimming and reading as part of my personal hobbies, although baking has become a recent interest.

I want to say that I am thrilled to be working with Evolve Therapeutic Fostering Service and really looking forward to meeting you all.

I have been a qualified social worker for over 25 years. My experience has been predominantly within Children and families, adoption, fostering and mental health. I have covered all aspects of this important service, such as recruitment, assessment, support of carers and adopters, matching, preparation and placing of children, report writing, attending court, being a panel member, training of carers and social workers etc. In addition to working within management roles.

I also have significant experiences within mental health, as I am a qualified Counsellor since 2008 and CBT psychotherapist 2012. In this capacity I have worked with birth parents and adults in a mental health service and also privately.

I actually began my career within the NHS in Leicester as an auxiliary nursing assistant. I worked in a large general hospital and really enjoyed working with the medical teams and the patients. I worked in paediatrics, gynaecology, orthopaedics, elderly, renal and intake wards. After two years, I decided that a long term career in nursing was not for me. I Just could not cope with the idea of giving people injections, the thought of it made me shudder. I practiced injecting oranges but a real person I couldn’t do it.

So, I pursued a career in social care and had lots of helpful advice from social workers and care sector workers. I worked as an assistant in family centres, elderly services and youth services. I then proceeded to train formally as a social worker and haven’t looked back.

After many years I have maintained my passion for working with people and I always utilise my social work and therapeutic skills within my work. I have met some amazing professionals and foster carers. There are so many challenges for families and children who need therapeutic foster carers even more, as you provide a valuable service to them. One day they will look back and say, “My foster carer helped me to keep calm when I was feeling stressed out” Just that bit of reassurance says everything to a young person. So my job is to support you to do your best, so that together we help to support the children and young people in our care.

“Hi, I’m Jill. My background is as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, I have worked in a variety of different fields, including drug and alcohol street agencies and rehabilitation centres through to residential children’s homes and specialist fostering agencies. My current role is a senior clinician in a Kent CAMHS where I work mainly with looked after children.
In more recent years I trained further in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, an evidence-based intervention for trauma. I am also a long-term foster carer, with three teenagers currently with me. “

I have worked within the independent fostering sector for most of my career; after finishing college my first role was as an Administration Assistant at Fostering Support Group, I then went onto work for FosterCare UK as the Recruitment Co-ordinator, following this I then worked in estate agency for around 5 years and in IT recruitment for nearly 2 years. I am now pleased to be returning into the foster sector again as the Fostering Administrator at evolve, working alongside a great team of people.

“I grew up in a fostering family, and have been surrounded by fostering, children and young people for most of my life, this has clearly informed my career path over the years.
I have previously worked within the Independent Fostering Sector as a recruitment coordinator so have knowledge and understanding of the recruitment process and the skills and attributes needed for potential foster parents. I am confident in building relationships with applicants and supporting the application process through to panel, providing all aspects of administration throughout the process.
Having worked within the care leavers service for 3 years, I have seen the need for more therapeutic foster care/placements for children much earlier on and definitely before they reach the age of 18. It’s apparent we need therapeutically trained, empathic, insightful and reflective carers to care for and meet the needs of the young people in the care system.”

“I am a qualified social worker who has been working in fostering for 10 years, before this I have worked in Supported Housing and Domestic Abuse. I have, over the past 10 years, been heavily involved in the preparation, assessment, and training of prospective foster carers. I always want to make sure that fostering is right for your family as well as any potential child. Having spent some years supervising carers I know how essential good support is to enable carers to do a role that is both challenging and rewarding. What I am always looking for in carers is warmth which I believe can’t be taught and a professional approach which can be. I am always excited to meet carers at the beginning of their journey and to know their experiences further along the path.”

“My name is Julia, and I am an Independent Panel Member and Vice Chair. I have over 30 years’ experience working in the children’s services sector, including 18 years with the local authority and 10 years establishing and running my own childcare provisions. I am a parent and foster carer.
In my spare time I enjoy walking my dogs, gardening, and baking.”

“My background is in education, working in the sector for over twenty-five years, encompassing all age groups from primary education through to university. In addition to teaching, my roles have had a focus on quality improvement, pastoral support and widening participation, including for children in care and care leavers. I have been an independent representative on fostering panels for thirteen years, in the roles of education adviser, vice-chair and chair, and I have also been involved in the development and delivery of training programmes for both foster carers and panel members. I have two birth children and two step-children, and live with my husband and youngest children just outside Canterbury.”

“I live in East Kent, I’m married and live with my hard working wife and twin teenage daughters. I am a retired Police Officer and was a Detective in Kent Police for 30 years. In my spare time I enjoy long walks with our energetic dog and attending sporting events where I can; in particular I’m a keen follower of both Derby County and Maidstone United football clubs.

My career within the Police centred on the CID, and I have extensive experience in crime investigation. I was a member of Kent Police’s Serious Crime Unit and following promotion I eventually led the Anti-Corruption Unit at Police Headquarters.”

“I am Mark and I Independent Panel Member with a background in The Police Service. I am also a Foster Carer.

I am retired now but spent the last 8 years of my service specialising in child abuse investigations & safeguarding, working closely with partner agencies such as Social Services, Education & Health. The role could be harrowing at times but also rewarding and it has given me a good insight into the abuse & neglect suffered by children who come into care. It also gave me a sound knowledge around complaints, allegations and how to safeguard yourselves as carers as well as the children in our care.”

“Hello, my name is Michael Crutchley, and I am 40-year-old male from Kent. I am married, with two young football-mad boys. As a result my life has transformed from aspiring premier league star to football coach and taxi driver! I am passionate about providing an input to the fostering sector and have been fortunate enough to undertake the role of independent panel member since 2010.

The role of panel member combines my studies (Social Sciences BSc Undergraduate, and Psychology PgDip) alongside my family background…. I was adopted at birth in a mixed-race family and grew up in Broadstairs, Kent. I feel as a “care leaver” I can evaluate and contribute carer applications in a different way to professionals. Adding value to the panel process gives me great satisfaction. My full-time role is vastly different and gives me a sense of balance. I manage a large team of IT Recruitment consultants in the City of London. I take great pride in mentoring and developing my team and servicing a wide range of clients across all sectors. So if spare time permits, I will be seen on a golf course looking for my errant drive or following my beloved football team from North London (I will not say which one!).”

“I’m Jennie I live with my husband, teenage daughter, and assorted pets in Herne Bay. I have worked with children ever since my mid-teens, be it in nurseries, primary schools or in colleges, the latter of which involved mentoring and advocating for teenagers in a pastoral role. I have also served in a voluntary capacity via her local church for many years and set up and ran a successful Baby and Toddler Group for over 10 years. Other opportunities enabled me to co-lead a trip to Vietnam to work with families and children living in the poorest areas of Ho Chi Minh city. I am currently part of the wider leadership team within the church and alongside my husband she coaches small group leaders, helps with a bible study for teenage girls. I enjoy reading, making cards, watching True Crime TV and is passionate about patchwork and quilting.”

“I live and work in Kent and until recently was a GP with over 30 years experience in Primary Care. I’ve been the Medical Advisor to a number of Fostering Agencies and have been involved as a Panel Member for some years. My wife is a School Nurse and I’ve 2 adult children.”

“I have a broad background in Education having worked in schools and universities. As a primary teacher I have taught children between the ages of 3 – 11 years before specialising in supporting SEND children as an advisory teacher and SENCO. I have also run a nurture group for permanently excluded children successfully re-integrating the majority back into full time education. Later in my career I worked in universities as a programme director on a primary PGCE course and later ran a masters programme in education for teachers and other professionals wishing to gain a MA qualification.
Throughout my career I have championed the importance of putting the needs of children first to ensure they are given the best opportunities to succeed and to reach their full potential.”

“I am currently studying psychology at university, hoping to go into psychotherapy as a career. I am 18 and have been in foster care since I was 10.”

“I started my Social Work journey 13 years ago and I have been a Senior Social Work in the Fostering Support Team, for over 7 years. My previous work experience before joining Fostering, was with Children’s Social Work Service and Adults Services. The role of a Fostering Social Worker can be challenging but also interesting and rewarding. I have been fortunate to meet amazing foster parents who have made a difference to the children’s lives and supported them to achieve their potential.”

Hello, I am Beverley and I live in Kent with my partner, we have 6 children between us, and 4 wonderful grandchildren.  I started my career as a dance teacher and experienced dancing around Europe within a touring show.  As a child growing up, I had always wanted to be a midwife, and so attended college and then University to gain the qualifications needed to follow my dream.  I have worked within the NHS for 19 years and have been very privileged to have shared the journey to parenthood, with all the highs and lows that brings, with many people along the way.

I am an Independent Social Worker who qualified in  2002 and gained a Masters in Child & Adult Mental Health in 2012, I have worked mainly as a Local Authority Social Worker in a number of different roles ranging from children and families to managing a specialised fostering project, an Independent reviewing officer and managing a children mental health service and adult mental health community team.

I am also a mother and grandmother and enjoy spending time with my family and my year-old Scottish terrier Hamish. I feel there is still work to be done to ensure all children and young people who come into care have the same opportunities and life chances as children not in care and that as an independent fostering agency we can ensure the children in “our” care have the care support and nurturing they deserve.

“I have been a Children & Families Social Worker since 2002 when I joined the Local Authority and worked within several different front-line teams, working closely with police, health, education, and other key agencies to promote and safeguard the safety and welfare of vulnerable children. Working my way up to Team Manager, Gaby has experience of managing Duty & Assessment teams and an Out of Hours Service, where the support of children in care and close liaison with their foster carers to achieve the best outcomes for children is a key requirement. As a Practice Educator and somebody who enjoys supporting and developing the practise of others, I have supervised both social workers and foster carers, helping them to reach their full potential whilst progressing their individual career paths. I have also provided training to foster carers on a variety of different subjects. Now working solely as an Independent Social Worker, I specialise in assessing prospective foster carers, exploring both their current strengths and areas for development, whilst supporting them through every stage of the process. As an excellent communicator, I readily engage applicants helping them to feel at ease, offering important encouragement and guidance as they embark upon their” fostering journey.”

“I’m Zara and I qualified in 2014, where I worked in the child protection field. This is where I began to develop my passion in supporting and achieving change with the families I worked with. I have worked in practice development roles, undertaking auditing, mentoring and coaching less experienced workers, as well as undertaking practice teaching at local universities. More recently in 2017; I started assessing foster carers through the Form F process, providing robust and succinct reports.”

“Hi I am Alina am I am a qualified social worker with over 12 years’ experience in statutory children’s social work. My experience includes working as a social worker, senior practitioner and team manager for Kent and other local authorities across London in various teams such as Referral and Assessment, Child Protection long term, Care Planning and Fostering teams.

In August 2022 I became an Independent Social Worker undertaking a wide range of complex reports in relation to children and families in need and parenting assessments within the Pre-Proceedings framework as well as cases within Care Proceedings, Private Law Proceedings, SGO, Viability Assessments, Connected Person/ Kinship and Regulation 24 Assessments. My expertise is with children in care and fostering, areas on which I have focused since 2015 and this has enabled me to become an experienced Form F Assessor and undertake assessments of prospective foster carers for Independent Fostering Agencies, Local Authorities and sit in Fostering Panels.

My experience of working with and assessing families from a wide range of cultures and ethnicities including families whose first language is not English. Throughout my career, inherent in my practice, is a commitment to ensure equal opportunities and embracing of all cultures, ethnicities and diversity.”

“I have worked for many years in the fields of fostering and adoption, as a social worker as well as Registered Manager.  I have also been a foster carer with a special interest in Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Minors. I currently sits as an Independent Panel Member on a number of fostering panels and undertakes fostering assessments.”

“I am an experienced social worker with a BA hons degree in social work and has been working with Foster Parents and young people for the past 6 years.

I also have qualifications in Therapeutic Parenting and have a particular interest supporting potential carers through the assessment process whilst preparing them with knowledge of therapeutically parenting children and young people. I recognise fostering is a whole family venture and prides herself on ensuring children and young people are cared for by highly nurturing carers, in a family environment.”

“I am an accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing practitioner (EMDR). Registered with both the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) and the EMDR Association.

For the past eighteen years, I have worked in the NHS as a senior clinician in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CYPMHS) specialising in working with looked after children. Prior to this, I worked across various fostering and residential fostering agencies, providing individual trauma informed therapeutic interventions for the young people and reflective supervision groups and training for the staff. I also trained in Dyadic Development Psychotherapy a psychotherapeutic treatment method for children and families with complex trauma and attachment difficulties.

My area of interest and specialism is the impact of trauma on children and young people in the care system and providing targeted evidence-based interventions, for the children, young people and those that care for them, thereby improving the social and emotional outcomes for these children.

I have over 20 years’ experience providing training to social workers, foster carers and adopters in the area of trauma and parenting traumatised children and young people.

My interest in the field of trauma also extends to my role as a foster carer parent, having fostered young people for over fifteen years, enabling me to better understand and empathise with the rewards and challenges faced by foster parents on a daily basis.’

“I am a clinical psychologist working in both the NHS and private practise. I completed my undergraduate in Kent and completed his clinical doctorate training in Sheffield.

I have worked in a variety of different settings in the NHS; including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Child Development Clinics and in various Adult settings. My main clinical interests are in how mental health professionals can support foster carers to build resilient, compassionate and caring, homes and how assessment and formulation can inform this process. My personal interests include cycling with his daughter and kayaking around the Kent coast.”

“I’m Neve, the office administrator for Connect B4 Correct.

I have been a part of the Connect B4 Correct team for a year. I am enjoying learning about the effects of Trauma and Therapeutic Parenting whilst developing my administrative skills.”

“My name is Rosie, I am an independent panel member for Evolve and I am also working for CB4C as an assistant psychologist for my university placement.

I’m currently in my third year of university studying psychology, hoping to go into psychotherapy as a career. I’m 20 and have been in foster care since I was 10.”