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PAC-UK Newsletter
A message from our CEO.

Over the last twelve months we have seen a dramatic growth in demand for our services, and whilst much of this can be attributed to the availability of the Adoption Support Fund, we have also been able to widen the range of services we offer.

New initiatives include; therapeutic groups for parents dealing with issues of child on parent violence; support for parents who are dealing with ongoing education issues; provision of an outreach therapeutic family service delivered in local communities; and the development of a specific parenting programme for kinship carers in partnership with GrandParents Plus.
Peter

At the same time we have grown our well established services for birth families, adult adoptees and adoptive families. The Child and Family service, based in Kentish Town and in Leeds, has seen a significant increase in demand resulting in us expanding the teams with staff from a range of therapeutic backgrounds. The training department continues to roll out new events including a massively successful conference in Leeds delivered in partnership with Adoption UK.

We continue to play a leading role in the sector, developing relationships with organisations such as Adoption UK and GrandParents Plus in order to broaden the accessibility of support services to all those affected by adoption and other forms of permanence. We hope to build on these partnerships in the future.

Like many in the adoption sector we wait to see how the new Regional Adoption Agencies will impact on our services. We are actively involved in a number of the evolving agencies, particularly those developing in Yorkshire and Humber, Tees Valley and London. Whilst the new regional adoption agencies are largely looking at family placement and support for adoptive families, I see it as central to PAC-UK’s role to keep the needs of adoptive parents and their families together with the needs of adults adopted as children on their agenda. I will continue to do this into 2017.

We have been successful in securing funding from the Department for Education in the coming year to enable it to grow into the Yorkshire & Humber region and build on the delivery of our child on parent violence interventions.

As we come to the end of another successful year, I would like to thank all of our hard working employees for their commitment and drive to deliver excellence. I would also like to thank all our beneficiaries and fundraisers for their donations this year.

I look forward to another successful year – Season’s Greetings and a Happy New Year to all.


Peter Sandiford, CEO of PAC-UK
Training
Reflection on Adoption: Living Life to the Full Conference and the Future of Post-Adoption Support
reflection on adoption Last month, PAC-UK and The Big Lottery Grant came together to host the Adoption: Living Life to the Full conference, an event designed to give adoptive families, carers and other professionals a platform to share their experiences and hopes for the future of post-adoption support.
The conference, which attracted over 100 attendees, included presentations from leading industry experts on research and developments in practical support, and provided an opportunity for adoptive parents to discuss their personal journeys, and how they would like to see support services develop nationwide. Feedback from adoptive parents, a thank you message from our CEO and free downloads for all presentations are available here.
Find out more on:
PAC-UK staff and current vacancies
PAC-UK services
PAC-UK training
How you can support PAC-UK
Adoption and government news
Frequently asked questions
Upcoming PAC-UK Training Events
Visit our Training page to view the full PAC-UK Training Programme for 2016-17. You can find detailed information about the courses we offer, check availability, register via our electronic booking form and pay online for all of our courses.

Upcoming training events include:

Facilitating and managing meaningful contact in adoption and fostering

25 January 2017 (London)

Most children who are adopted or fostered have some level of contact with their birth family, whether face to face or by letter – yet the psychological impact of this contact isn’t always considered. This training for professionals, with Louis Sydney, psychotherapist, author and specialist adoption consultant, will explore what makes ‘good’ contact.

Louis will provide a framework and model for assessing, evaluating and planning contact arrangements.

Click here for more information

Taming the Tiger


1 February 2017 (London) and
8 February 2017 (Leeds)

Children who find it difficult to regulate their emotions can display unprovoked behaviour causing problems at home and school. In this training for parents and professionals, Dr Renee Marks, a much sought after figure in the world of trauma and dissociation, will explain how trauma changes the brain and the emotional regulation of children.

Renee will discuss trauma based behaviours and provide practical strategies that enable children to become calmer and engage more effectively with life.

Click here for more information

PAC-UK News
PAC-UK Embarks on Joint Venture with Adoption UK
PAC-UK Embarks on Joint Venture with Adoption UK PAC-UK, the country’s biggest independent adoption support agency and Adoption UK, the country’s most influential adoption support charity, are embarking on a joint venture in a bid to provide a more comprehensive and cohesive level of support to everyone in the adoption community.

The venture will give both organisations a chance to benefit from a complementary range of skills, resources, and interests. Find out more here.
PAC-UK celebrates positive outcomes following DfE Education Project
PAC-UK celebrates positive outcomes following DfE Education Project The Yorkshire and Humber Education Project was a Department of Education funded collaboration between PAC-UK and the Yorkshire & Humber Adoption Consortium.

Taking place between April 2015 and July 2016, the project aimed to support families and develop capacities of schools and local authorities to better meet the educational needs of adopted and other permanently placed children. Outcomes from the project highlighted, on average, that schools perceived themselves to have a 20% improvement in knowledge, competence, staff teams’ commitment, school environment, direct support, senior leadership awareness and provision.
Unable to attend the event in person due to prior commitments, The Minister for Children and Families, Edward Timpson, sent a pre-recorded video message praising the success of the project.

PAC-UK's Education Service has a range of support for schools including training, consultations, assessment, support and advice to ensure that the educational needs of permanently placed children are better met in schools.
PAC-UK Fundraising
PAC-UK needs your support to make a difference to more lives. Can you become a regular donor?
Can you become a regular donor? With major policy changes underway, PAC-UK has entered an exciting period of growth. Enquiries to our Advice Line were over 3,000 in 2015/16, and requests for individual counselling and family therapy have reached unprecedented levels.We are aware, though, that there are still gaps in provision and PAC-UK must continue to work hard to ensure that all those needing help can access it.

Your support can help us fill that unmet need, and we are appealing to you this Christmas to set up a regular monthly standing order to the benefit of PAC-UK. We are so grateful to our current regular donors, whose contributions – whether £3 or £50 a month – demonstrate their commitment to our vision. Please help us build better futures for more people!

Follow this link for information about setting up regular payments via Virgin Money Giving, or ask your bank to set up a standing order.
Team PAC-UK raises over £1,000 at 2016 Regents Park 10k
Team PAC-UK Raises over £1,000 at 2016 Regents Park 10k On Sunday 13 November 2016, our team of runners made up of supporters, staff and service users strapped on their trainers and took to the footpaths of Regent’s Park to compete in the annual 10k race. See how our team got on here.

PAC-UK staff and supporters participate in a number of regular sporting and fundraising events each year. If you arrange your own event and would like to nominate PAC-UK to benefit from the proceeds, please do let us know!
Thank you!
We would like to thank every benefactor and PAC-UK supporter for their generosity over the last twelve months. In 2015/16, we raised £296,943 from trusts and foundations and received £19,414 in donations and gifts.
PAC-UK Advice Line – December & New Year Opening Times 2016
Please find the late December and New Year opening times for our London and Leeds Advice Lines, as well as other useful organisations you can contact if needed below:

  London Office - 020 7284 5879
 
Leeds Office - 0113 230 2100
 
Tuesday 20 December 10.00am – 4.00pm 10.00am – 1.00pm
Wednesday 21 December 2.00pm – 7.30pm 4.00pm – 7.00pm
Thursday 22 December 2.00pm – 7.30pm 10.00am – 1.00pm
Friday 23 December 10.00am – 4.00pm 10.00am – 1.00pm
Monday 26 Dec to Monday 2 Jan CLOSED CLOSED


Resuming normal opening times from Tuesday 3 January 2017.

Other useful organisations you can contact if needed

  Samaritans
 
Childline
 
Website www.Samaritans.org www.childline.org
Phone 116 123 (UK and ROI) 0800 1111
Email/Online Chat jo@samaritans.org 1-2-1 Online Chat
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.

Team Coordinator - Peer Support Team
Salary: £30,000
Working Hours: 30 hours p/week
Location: Home-based, with some travel to Leeds, London and/or Banbury

Adoption & Special Guardianship Education Consultant - Tees Valley
Salary: £29,796 pro rata
Working Hours: Full time – 35 hours p/week
Location: Hartlepool, with travel across the Tees Valley region

Adoption & Special Guardianship Education Consultant - London
Salary: £31,875 pro rata
Working hours: Full time – 35 hours p/week
Location: PAC-UK London Office, with travel across the London region

Team Administrator
Salary: TBC
Working hours: part time – 26 hours p/week
Location: Leeds

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