Olympian as keynote speaker at ‘Edge of Care’ launch

Yesterday (April 17) Manx Care launched its ‘Edge of Care’ initiative with a conference for colleagues and partner agencies.

Double Olympian Fatima Whitbread gave a moving keynote speech at the Isle of Man conference as part of ‘Fatima’s UK Campaign’, which is working to amplify the voices of young people who are in care and those at the “edge of care”.

The Edge of Care initiative is a multi-agency approach that empowers families to thrive together, reducing the avoidable use of “in care” solutions.

It also supports children and young people (where care has been necessary) to return home where appropriate and safe to do so, with the right support in place.

Edge of Care

This will see professionals from multiple teams across organisations coming together to determine the requirements for successful family reunification, or other options where this is not possible.

The team will consider each child or young person on an individual basis, ensuring their needs are met in the most appropriate and safest way possible.

The full launch of this initiative, which has been running in trial form for 12 months, will mean that intensive support is available for families in crisis, more or less immediately.

Multidisciplinary teams will come together to provide therapeutic intervention for both children and parents, rather than receiving social work intervention only.

This programme will also ensure that Isle of Man resources are appropriately allocated, providing the best value for money for residents.

Speaker

Former world javelin record holder, Fatima Whitbread, was a keynote speaker at the conference, as part of ‘Fatima’s UK Campaign’ to amplify the voices of children and young people who are in care or at the “edge of care”.

Fatima commented: “I grew up in care, and am using this lived experience to help build positive mental health for our children.

“I recognise the importance of supporting and nurturing young people’s talent, passion and skills, and am promoting collaboration across organisations to ensure families can remain together, with support to enable this to happen safely.”

However, acknowledging that this is not possible in certain circumstances, Fatima is also taking this time to encourage people across the Island to explore the opportunity to become foster carers – a rewarding and valuable undertaking that can change children and young people’s lives, and improve long-term outcomes for these children and young people in our community.

St. Christopher’s (Isle of Man), a children’s and young people’s charity, attended and discussed how they effect positive change and safely maintain children within their families when appropriate, through intensive and therapeutic work with both children and their families.

St. Christopher’s links in with the MASH, working alongside the Police, health professionals and Manx Care Social Workers on a day-to-day basis.