Telephone
028 7137 3731
Freephone Helpline
0800-022-3129

Caring for Kin Project

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Our ‘Caring for Kin’ Project supports grandparents, great grandparents and older kinship carers who are raising their family and friends’ children.

As well as providing a free telephone helpline service, the Project also provides training and support to kinship carers and runs a several ‘Kin Together’ Support Groups in the Antrim, Magherafelt, Cookstown and Draperstown areas.

caring-for-kin-poster

Services include:-

  • Drop in Service
  • Specialist Advocacy Service
  • Counselling Service
  • DillyDallies Walking Group
  • Breakfast Club/Coffee Mornings
  • Kin Together Support groups
  • Grandfamilies Matter Training Programme
  • Family Recreation
  • Free Telephone Helpline Service

For more information on our Caring for Kin Project and the services we offer to kinship carers, you can download a leaflet here

 

 

 

Helpline

Our Helpline responds to around 100 calls each year. A small team of highly trained staff and volunteers provide advice and information on the legal and financial entitlements associated with caring for a family or friends’ child.

Who can contact the Helpline?

Kinship carers, prospective kinship carers and professionals working with kinship carers and their children in the community can contact our Helpline for advice, information and support.

How to contact the Helpline

You can call the Helpline on 0800 022 3129 (Monday-Friday:- 9am-5pm. Closed Saturdays/Sundays/Bank Holidays)

Calls to our helpline are free from UK landlines and all major UK mobile operators. Other networks may charge.

What can I expect when I call the Helpline?

Whatever your concern, you can be confident our Helpline staff will understand the issues you might be facing, and the advice and information you receive will by clear and up to date. We will also let you know where else you can go for further support and information.

Callers to the Helpline can expect that:-

  • We will be available to take your call at any time during our advertised opening hours.
  • We will aim to answer your call within three rings whenever possible.
  • We will respond to voicemail messages within 4 hours.
  • We will explain to you the reasons we ask you for specific information about yourself and others so we provide you with the right advice and information.
  • Where the helpline is busy and you leave your contact details we will return your call in strict rotation within 4 hours.
  • Requests for literature will be processed free of charge within three working days.
  • We will respond to letters requiring an individual response within three working days and no later than five working days.
  • We will ensure appropriate follow-up of your case in accordance with agreed timescales.
  • We will not pass on your details unless this has been agreed between you and Helpline staff.
  • We will consult with you on how we can improve and develop our helpline service.
  • We will send you a ‘Helpline Evaluation Survey’ with a free post envelope if you request it, or include it alongside any literature/information you have requested.
  • Complaints regarding our service will be dealt with in line with Kinship Care NI’s Confidentiality Policy, Equal Opportunities Policy and Complaints Procedure.

I got a lot of help from ringing the helpline. My daughter had passed away and I was caring for my two grandchildren. The staff member I spoke to on the helpline was great. She explained everything to me and then helped me apply for a Residence Order. Then she put me in touch with a grandparent bringing up her grandson who lived only a few miles from my home. I now have a new friend and we go for a cup of coffee every week. I really don’t know what I would have done without the helpline
(Helpline User)

Confidentiality

The Helpline is a confidential service. This confidentiality is maintained between clients and Kinship Care NI, and the Helpline team in the first instance.

The Helpline team uses your personal information (such as name and address) for the purposes of dealing with your enquiry. They will not pass on your details to anyone else without your permission.

However, there are some exceptional circumstances where we may pass on personal information from callers. For example:

  • We believe a caller is at serious risk of harm, either from themselves or others
  • We suspect a child may be at risk of harm
  • A caller poses a serious risk of harm to others
  • A caller threatens or abuses our staff
  • A caller is deliberately misusing the service, which prevents the service from being delivered to others
  • We receive a court order requiring us to divulge information
  • We are passed information relating to an act of terrorism.
  • The Helpline will not store your personal information (unless it is to record that we have disclosed it in one of the exceptional circumstances listed above). Some demographic information is collected at the end of the call but this is stored anonymously in a way that cannot identify a living person.

For more information, you can download our Helpline policy here

helpline_networks_logoWe are members of Helplines Network NI

How You Can Help Kinship care NI

There are many ways in which you can support us in our important wirk with kinship carers and children in kinship care. Here are just a few!

Stop By and Say Hello

Come and visit us. Meet our staff, volunteers and the children and families we support. We make the best cup of tea ever!

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Make a Donation

Online – via our website (www.kinshipcareni.com), Paypal (insert web address) or BTMyDonate (insert web address) By Phone – call us to donate by credit/debit card. By Post – please send a cheque made payable to ‘Kinship Care NI Ltd’ to Kinship Care NI, 67 Carlisle Road, L’Derry, BT48 6JL.

Take on a Challenge

Sign up to do something that will stretch you to your limits. Be that a sporting challenge (like a marathon), a walking or biking challenge or something even more adventurous (a skydive?!). Ask your friends and family to sponsor you in aid of Kinship Care NI.

Hold a Fundraising Event

Organise a fundraising event, like a Coffee Morning or a BBQ and invite all your friends and family.

Leave a Legacy

By remembering Kinship Care NI in your Will, you will be leaving behind a legacy that will make a real difference to children and young people in kinship care. You can also specify how you would like your gift to be used.

Payroll Giving

Setting up a donation through your pay is simple. However you are paid - whether monthly, weekly or every four weeks – you can give to Kinship Care NI in a tax effective way through your pay. A donation to Kinship Care NI each pay day will enable us to deliver more programmes and activities to children and young people.

Become a Corporate Partner

Select Kinship Care NI as your Charity of the Year or hold one off events to help raise money towards our work.

Become a Friend of Kinship Care NI

Giving a few pounds to Kinship Care NI via direct debit is a great way to help. Even a small amount per month can make a huge difference to the lives of kinship carers and their families, by paying for essential support and helping us to plan our services knowing we have funds we can rely on.

Become a Kinship Care Community Champion

Volunteer with us, help raise awareness of kinship care and share our news and events with your friends and family.

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