Statement of Purpose

In 2002, when Nexus Fostering began, we had one simple aim in mind: to provide high-quality foster placements to children and young people who needed them. I had been a Social Worker in fostering since 1983, and then, as now, felt strongly that successful fostering placements offer an excellent opportunity for children and young people to achieve their full potential.

Two like-minded colleagues joined with me to form our agency, with the intention of focusing on services that support carers to succeed for the children and young people placed with them. In the early days we each did everything necessary to make placements work.

Since then, Nexus Fostering has grown from strength to strength. We continue to develop services in accordance with our original vision, and I am proud of the record of success that Nexus Fostering has established. Since 2002, the crucial role of foster carers has become nationally recognised and fostering services have become increasingly regulated and held to account.

Development of Our Services

To maintain the personal and reliable approach that has always defined our work, in December 2024 we divided our service into two agencies: Nexus Fostering and Nexus Fostering Midlands & West. Each agency has four teams, with equal staffing and resources. Both offer the same services and support to foster carers, children and young people.

This structure ensures that, as we grow, accessibility and close relationships remain central to our work. The key benefits for carers and families are the same across both agencies:

• Local relationships with people you know and who know you
• Managers who are easy to contact
• Feeling valued as individuals and as unique families
• The security of belonging to a respected organisation with the networks and services to act effectively on your behalf

Across both agencies we have to set out our vision, our services and our structures in a formal document – a Statement of Purpose:

Our Statement of Purpose sets out the aims, objectives and values that underpin our work and commit everyone involved in Nexus Fostering to placing the best interests and welfare of children at the centre of everything we do. It explains how this commitment is put into practice and how good outcomes are achieved through our services. It also describes how our service is managed, and the systems we have in place to recruit, train, supervise and support our foster carers.

The Statement of Purpose is regularly reviewed and updated annually.

Although this is a formal document, it reflects what we believed at the very beginning: that services for our foster carers must remain central to all those who work for and with Nexus Fostering. Through well-supported carers, children and young people receive excellent care. Our original team of three has grown, but we remain at the head of the agency, and some of the original children are still part of their first fostering families. They remind us of where we started and what can be achieved.

Children and young people placed with us have a great future ahead, and we will continue to do our best so that this is true for every child we support. As you read this Statement of Purpose, we hope you recognise a lasting commitment to excellent foster care, delivered by a social-worker-led agency that combines professionalism with a personal approach.