One of Scotland’s largest social care charities is looking to recruit new foster carers for its Family Support Service in Dumfries

One of Scotland’s largest social care charities is seeking new foster carers for its Family Support Service in Dumfries.

Quarriers provides support for children, young people and families affected by disability throughout Dumfries & Galloway, and was shortlisted for the National Learning Disabilities Award 2017 in the Sporting Chance category.

Amongst its services Quarriers provides short family breaks for children with disabilities, and there are currently 13 foster carers providing short breaks to 17 children. It also supports families affected by disability by providing help to parents, children and young people at home or in their communities.

A Care Inspectorate report published in June gave high ratings to both the quality of care and support provided by Quarriers and its staff quality.

60 year-old Anita Stott decided to become a foster carer with Quarriers after retiring from her nursing career of 32 years, providing short-break care for children with complex needs. On her fostering she said: “The training is very comprehensive and doesn’t pull any punches. You need to know and understand everything about a child or young person’s life to then be a meaningful part of it.”

Quarriers is also looking to expand its work into providing social support for adults, with a new project called The Next Step, supporting people up to the age of 30 with a range of tools to increase their skills, self-esteem and confidence.

Jan Hiddleston, service coordinator at Quarriers Family Support Service said: “It’s been a great year for the service and to be in a position to be launching a new social support service for young adults up to the age of 30 is really encouraging.”

For more information about any of these services, contact Quarriers on 01387 249 888 or email.