In this months episode, Vicki and Haley talk about preparations for the summer holidays, the heat, the lack of routine and the changes that are coming after. It’s a lot for any parent and carer to manage and so we explore the need for preparing for that with our people, our network, our tribe to prevent breakdowns or at least minimise those difficult times and give us the energy to be the best carers we can. As always you can connect with us through the following - Instagram- BMBUltd Facebook – ...
Jul 08, 2025•27 min•Ep. 564
Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast In this episode I speak to adoptive parent and former foster carer Izzy, she shares her experience of adopting a child that she fostered as well as her experience of realising that her child was living with Pathological Demand Avoidance. Izzy explains PDA and how it impacts children and families as well as sharing her own journey to running support groups and working to support other adoptive parents working to meet the needs of their c...
Jul 05, 2025•39 min•Ep. 559
Hello and welcome to episode 212 of the adoption and fostering podcast, as we creep into the summer madness is upon us so due to scheduling challenges we’re releasing an interview that we had with Dr Chris Burke in May with no #InfoBanter. The issue of maintaining family links for children remains a complex one with everybody around children often having strong feelings, worries and concerns about what is in the best interests of children and how we should address the challenges. Chris has creat...
Jun 28, 2025•35 min•Ep. 563
Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast In this episode I speak to adoptive parent Amiee, with her husband she proactively chose adoption and she shares their journey so far. We talk about the challenge of being linked with a child and the difficulties they experienced prior to finding their child. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in t...
Jun 21, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 524
In this episode of the A&F podcast we have a quick catch up then throw ourselves into the murky world of adoption and ethics. We may have fallen at the first hurdle but we are speaking as adoptive parents and we look specifically a the balance of morals and ethics within this world. We're not high minded lads so it's pretty rudimentary but we consider some of the challenged and consider the role of pragmatism. The court case we mention can be found here . As always if you’ve experience of ad...
Jun 14, 2025•50 min•Ep. 562
In this episode we talk about the idea of home. What does home mean to us, as individuals, as parents, as professionals? Is it a place, a person, a feeling? We reflect on how our own experiences shape the way we support children and young people especially, those where home hasn’t always felt safe or secure. For care-experienced young people, home can be a complex and loaded idea, something longed for, feared, or never truly known. As always you can connect with us through the following - Instag...
Jun 10, 2025•29 min•Ep. 561
Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast In this episode I speak to adoptive parent Julie, she became a foster carer then adopted as a solo carer and has experience working as a professional in mental health and social care. Julie shares her experience and the challenges as professional dropped away as the local authority team moved to a regional adoption agency as well as the benefits of the adoption support fund. Julie now support other families like hers through the not for...
Jun 07, 2025•26 min•Ep. 523
Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast In this episode I speak to Dan Boxall_Simpson a Foster Carer, special guardian and fostering panel member Dan shares his experience of becoming a foster carer with his husband and how that opened up many of the things that came afterwards including the decision to become a special guardian for two of the children they fostered. Dan is now in the process of starting an independent foster care agency through a community interest company i...
May 31, 2025•51 min•Ep. 519
Hello and welcome to the A&F podcast, we're in the same country so after a very busy day at the FASD Ireland Conf we took to bed (think Morecambe and Wise) and unpacked the day's events as well as catching up with the latest news from the world of adoption and fostering and house moves! As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook pa...
May 24, 2025•23 min•Ep. 560
Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast In this episode I speak to Tristian Smith a US care experienced adult. He shares his vivid experience of coming into the care system after a difficult kinship care arrangement. Tristian with his brother moved several times, experienced a failed adoption and then separation from his young er brother. It’s a difficult listen as he shares his story. Tristian now looks to support and encourage other young people in the care system and has w...
May 17, 2025•37 min•Ep. 518
Hello and welcome to this third episode of Al's Churchill Fellowship. You can read the full report here. In this podcast I reflect on conversations with carers and practitioners that support parents and children in the context of respite arrangements. It is a model of practice rarely seen in the UK and not available from statutory support services. The model of intervention explored from two settings in North America raised questions about perceptions of family and how intervening to rebuild and...
May 10, 2025•34 min•Ep. 549
This month we’re diving into the topic of risk. Are we too risk averse? And what does that really mean in the world of parenting, adoption and fostering, education, and social work. Join us as we explore how fear of risk and the consequences shapes decision-making, and what impact it has on the young people we’re trying to support. This conversation invites you to consider where caution helps and where it might be holding us back. As always you can connect with us through the following - Instagr...
May 06, 2025•28 min•Ep. 558
Al was invited to attend the 2025 Adoption England Conference (Moving Forwards) in London. So, he off he went with his C30 tapes and trusty recorder and was able to grab a few interviews with attendees and contributors. The conversations cover a range of subjects; Early Permanence, the ASGSF, opportunities, adoptee voices, pre order disruption with kind contributions from the following: Vicky Davidson Boyd - Adoption Tees Valley Emily Frith Adoption UK Nathanial-Elliot Coad Youth Network Sarah J...
May 03, 2025•32 min•Ep. 557
Hello and welcome to this second episode of Al's Churchill Fellowship. You can read the full report here. Developing the themes in Part 1 this podcast considers how parents and carers are supported by focused organisations. Rather than look at specific models of intervention, of which there are many, it considered how families interacted and accessed the interventions and specifically how they were delivered to the families. Again, drawing heavily from Interwoven Connections based in Ontario, Ca...
Apr 30, 2025•40 min•Ep. 548
In this episode we have the now almost obligatory ASSGSF intro and the get to the business on hand. We invited the All Party Parliamentary Group on Adoption and Permanence steering committee chair Siobhan Rhodes to come on and talk about the work they're doing to gather the voices of people who are adopted. We chat about what that is with the APPG is and you can complete the survey for Adoptee Voices here . As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any pe...
Apr 26, 2025•35 min•Ep. 553
We pulled this episode together at short notice to promote the work of adoptive parent Clare Solomon joined by Euan Preston of the Potato group to talk about the upcoming march to protest against the changes to the ASGSF. We chat through the changes and what they are looking to achieve through the petition and the march. You can sign the petition here , or find out more about the march on the 3rd May to Downing Street here and find out more about them on their Facebook page here . As always if y...
Apr 25, 2025•39 min•Ep. 555
Hello and welcome to this first episode of Al's Churchill Fellowship. You can read the full report here . This episode draws on peer support specialists working directly with parents and carers living with children with challenging and aggressive behaviour. Focusing on Canada & the USA it considers different models of peer support including social media, virtual and in person. It then considers the role of peer mentors specifically in the Canadian organisation Interwoven Connections based ac...
Apr 23, 2025•38 min•Ep. 547
In this Episode Al interviews Dr Lynn Snow. She is a medical doctor who has undertaken a Churchill Fellowship looking at how other countries and context address and support adoptive parents experiencing post adoption depression. It was a fascinating conversation and Lynn has also worked as a paediatrician on adoption panel and we start by unpacking that a little. We then delve deeply into the issue of PAD, its prevalence, what helps and what doesn't. Lynn's conversations with several professiona...
Apr 19, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 552
Hello and welcome to this episode of Converations from the A&F podcast. In this episode I speak to foster carer and Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz. He’s passionate about protecting vulnerable children which is what led him to start YATOM: The Jewish Foster and Adoption Network . He is a father to 4 children and has fostered 8 children over the past few years with his wife, Shoshana. They work to motivate and support the Jewish community in the journey of adopting & fostering children and to...
Apr 12, 2025•33 min•Ep. 511
What does it really mean to keep up with the kids? It's more than knowing the latest slang or TikTok trends – it's about staying curious, open, and connected. In this episode, we explore how tuning into the world our young people live in helps build stronger relationships and deeper understanding. Are you up to date with the language they use? Do you know what matters to them right now? Are you curious rather than critical? As always you can connect with us through the following - Instagram- BMB...
Apr 08, 2025•30 min•Ep. 551
Hello and welcome to the A&F podcast. In this, slightly raucous, episode we speak to Michelle Hall and Dr Paul Shuttleworth. They chat about the work they are doing with the charity Kinship supporting carers to help children make sense of their life stories. They are delivering free training across the UK, both online and in person, and you can sign up through the Kinship website here . If you're interested in coming to Al's Fellowship report release/webinar then you can sign up for free her...
Apr 05, 2025•52 min•Ep. 550
Hello and welcome to this episode of Converations from the A&F podcast. In this episode I speak to foster carer Zoe Bell, she shares her experience of being a foster carer and the impact of her faith on that. She now works for the charity 100 Homes based in Nottinghamshire that supports local churches to recruit carers and build networks around foster carers for the local authority. Links: Facebook and Insta: @100HomesNotts Email: info@100homes.org.uk As always if you’ve experience of adopti...
Mar 29, 2025•38 min•Ep. 505
In this episode of the A&F podcast we speak to adoptive parent and Neurodiversity Coaching Psychologist Anna Webster. She shares her experience of parenting a child with a diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and the development of the Neurowise Programme on Therapeutic Caregiving for FASD. It is a genuinely fascinating chat and we both drew lots of new information and thinking about the role of parents and the specific challenges parents and carers of children with FASD face. Anna i...
Mar 22, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 525
Hello and welcome to conversations from the A&F podcast. In this episode I speak to adoptive parent Ali. With her husband they adopted two boys and after what seemed like a routine and normal experience of parenting challenges came when they started School. Ali shares her experience of facing challenges, difficult decisions that led to her setting up the ‘Fizzy Kids’ website and FaceBook page . As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective...
Mar 15, 2025•51 min•Ep. 503
This month, we're exploring the power of interpretations. The way we hear, use, and understand words can significantly shape how we think,feel, and respond. We reflect on how shifting our interpretations can improve relationships and promote understanding. As always you can connect with us through the following - Instagram- BMBUltd Facebook – Better Me Better Us Email – info@bettermebetterus.co.uk
Mar 11, 2025•23 min•Ep. 522
Phd Student Laura Smith recently got in touch with us in relation to research that she is undertaking research assessing the impact of a history of childhood maltreatment in the birth family on a child's emotional development. This is aimed specifically at adopters and adoptees aged 3 to 10 years old and she is keen to speak to families. We unpick why she is undertaking this research and what it can tell us in terms of how we care for adopted, and other children, who have experienced early adver...
Mar 08, 2025•54 min•Ep. 521
Hello and welcome to this slightly unusual episode of Converations from the A&F podcast. Today I’m speaking to Peter Jakob, he introduced NVR (Non Violent Resistance) to the UK and has been a leader in its development and training of practitioner here. He’s has a new book out ‘ Non Violent Resistance in Trauma Focused Practice ’, we talk about that as well as broader issues supporting families. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective...
Mar 01, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 516
This was a fantastic episode to record, Rebecca draws on her experience as an adoptive parent to a child impacted by FASD as well as being a practicing social worker as we talk about FASD and the challenges families face getting help. To be honest it's such a critical topic we cartwheel around it. Rebecca wrote the following: "I am a doctoral researcher at Birmingham City University. My research looks at post adoption social work with families with a child with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis...
Feb 22, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 517
In this episode we get Becky Brooks to come on and walk us through the new Government's Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that is progressing through parliament now. There's lot to unpack and Becky is able to direct us to the highlights with school uniforms, admission rules for looked after children, virtual school powers, guardianship offers and much more discussed. As always Beck it spot on and you can read more on her analysis here . If you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special ...
Feb 15, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 520
This month we’re talking about kindness- the chosen as Children's word of the year for 2024.We'll talk about why it matters, how it shapes connections and interactions. Kindness isn’t just about individual moments—it creates a ripple effect. When children experience kindness, it strengthens relationships, builds trust, and influences the systems and communities around them. A kind, understanding approach within families, schools, and support networks can transform outcomes for children who have ...
Feb 11, 2025•23 min•Ep. 515
