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Brief History
By the Bridge fostering was founded in 2002 in the South East.
From small beginnings in Kent, By the Bridge grew fostering communities and offices organically in the Eastern, Midlands and Thames Valley regions. Through acquisition in 2008, Foster Care Services became By the Bridge North West in March 2011.
By the Bridge, including By the Bridge North West, was acquired by Cambian Group in March 2015. Following a merger with The Cambian Group, one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist care and education, the fostering division of the group is now known as By the Bridge with Cambian.
On 25th July 2016 Cambian’s original fostering service, Cambian Fostercare, closed. The majority of staff and foster families, and one of the offices, transferred to By the Bridge with Cambian or By the Bridge North West.
By the Bridge with Cambian
As a responsible, independent fostering organisation, we work very closely with Local Authorities and their Social Workers; we are here to support you in providing the very best care, opportunities and outcomes. By the Bridge specialises in working with children and young people who could benefit from a therapeutic, nurturing family environment. In turn, this level of quality leads to the best outcomes for children.
Our expertise in fostering traumatised children, the professionalism of our foster families and staff and the application of our therapeutic philosophy all combine well with the Social Workers’ own desire to achieve the best outcomes for the children they place in our care. We recognise that fostering sits within the framework of social work, but is a distinct and separate profession.
As we have a real heritage in fostering, we understand what families need to be successful and we believe in professionalism. At By the Bridge we provide excellent training and supervision programmes for foster parents. These are designed to ensure they maintain the emotional capacity and energy to parent with sensitivity and to provide the structure and stability necessary for the healthy development of the children in their care.
Because our foster parents are valued as professionals and have a first class package of support, training and development, supervision, and access to Education Advisors and Therapists, they are able to work to a much higher standard than you might be used to. We understand that the quality and availability of support is key to helping foster parents manage complex situations – In By the Bridge this support is literally on tap, so things that might otherwise seem difficult may be very straightforward for our foster families. This level of quality leads to the best outcomes for children.
We offer a range of fostering placement categories which could be short-term and long-term placements, and can last from just a few days to several months or years.
Therapeutic Fostering
Our Therapeutic fostering services is a specialist provider with expertise in fostering traumatised children or those with complex needs. Our unique therapeutic approach recognises that every child is different and has unique physical and emotional needs. Therapeutic plans provide our foster parents with a professional tool to support them in becoming an expert in understanding the internal worlds of their foster children.
The professionalism of our foster families and staff, the application of our therapeutic philosophy, all combine well with the Social Workers’ own desire to achieve the best outcomes for the children they place in our care.
Regional Offices
By the Bridge have offices in the North West, Eastern, Midlands, Thames Valley and South East regions. We also have communities of foster families in the South and Sussex regions.
By the Bridge North West is a Registered Office of By the Bridge with Cambian and receives a range of services from the Central Services office in order to carry out the key tasks of a fostering service as defined by Ofsted.