Where on earth do you even begin when starting up an Independent Fostering Agency - Well we gave it all we had and found out :-) 2018 the creation of an Independent Fostering Agency

1. 2018
The creation of an
Independent Fostering Agency
Cathy Kubiak December 2018

2. It only seems like a blink ago I was sat at home last December mentally preparing for my return
to work in January following my adoption leave. To say I was apprehensive about leaving our little girl
would be the understatement of the century, at one point I genuinely considered staying at home and
returning to my career further down the line. However I was extremely excited about what lay ahead
of me and this gave me the push I needed.
Upon commencing my leave I was the Head of Talent Management and Culture for Pathway Group, a
job I loved, with a team I loved for a company I loved. A job however
I was not going to be returning to. I was being entrusted by the Directors of Pathway Group (Safaraz
Ali, Waheed Azam and Hamait Ali) with the design and creation of an Independent Fostering Agency
(eeeek scary). I had developed a real calling to make an impact in this sector following becoming an
adopter and to be offered this role was both humbling and exciting. It was the perfect opportunity.
How do you go about it though?

3. Following much research, 27 thousand drafts of our business plan, the recruitment of a fabulous and
well experienced Fostering Manager and the set up of our offices we were ready to make our
application to Ofsted. If we thought the hardest work was done there, boy were we wrong ��. Lets
just say over this year I think I've discovered more grey hairs than ever before. The amount of prep
work needed for the Ofsted registration visit is insane. (If anyone is thinking of setting up and needs
any advice in this area just shout up). We learned many lessons in this time, we made mistakes, we
had to recreate some things more than once and learned a lot about planning permissions. I'm not
going to lie, there was plenty of blood, sweat and tears.
9/7/2018 Ofsted lands and we pitch our vision, our passion our goals, we are
D-Day interviewed, questioned and our processes and systems are thoroughly
inspected
10/7/2018
- Panic, hoping, wondering why time has stood still. ������
12/08/2018
13/8/2018 We get the call to say we have been APPROVED, Yeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssss.

4. I don't think I can translate the feeling of achievement and relief into words on here, but we were on
cloud nine. Our little Fostering Agency that we had created on paper was about to burst into life. And
Burst into life it did.
We are now four months down the line and F5 Foster Care has gathered a wonderful following on Social
Media, has proudly supported the Asian Apprenticeship Awards, been entered in numerous
publications, and built some fantastic partnerships with Local Authorities/Service Providers and
Advisory Boards. We now have nearly 30 members of staff and are due to have our First Foster Carers
finish their Assessments in January and become fully approved to Foster with more to follow.
To say I am excited to see what 2019 brings would be an understatement. We have many plans ready to
go, we will have the first children coming through to our Carers and we should have our first full Ofsted
Inspection in order to be awarded a judgement grading. On a more personal note one of my main aims
for 2019 will be looking at what I can do to drive improvements in educational and employment related
outcomes of care leavers as currently half of England's Care Leavers (aged 18-21) are not in any form of
education, training or employment. Shocking! Hopefully I will be able to combine my experiences within
fostering and education/training and links with my wonderful colleagues to create something that can
make at least some difference to this.

5. It still feels really surreal to be sitting here right now thinking of the difference a year can make.
The support from colleagues, friends, professional contacts old and new has been phenomenal.
Thank you so much. Genuinely overwhelming. I can not wait to see what i'm writing this time next
year. Onward and upwards - F5 is Alive
Always happy to connect with new people who share the same visions and passions
cathy.kubiak@f5fostercare.co.uk
0121 2710555
07943 276086
www.linkedin.com/in/cathykubiak