About Safehouses North

We are a small, well established fostering agency based in the North West, with easy access to Manchester and West Yorkshire.

As a fostering agency we:

  • Provide professional fostering services to local authorities and other organisations engaged in the care of children and young people.
  • Provide wide ranging packages of foster care tailored to the needs of the individual child or young person.
  • Recruit professional foster carers.
  • Assess potential foster carers and present them to our Fostering Panel for approval.
  • Provide pre and post approval training for foster carers.
  • Act as point of referral – matching agency -  for local authorities seeking placements for Looked After Children.
  • Provide 24 hr support to carers and the children in placement.
  • Provide an innovative educational support package through our links with the National Teaching and Advisory Service (NT&AS).

Based in Saddleworth in a beautiful countryside environment, being close to Oldham and the M60 and M62, we are also on main transport routes to all areas of the North West.

Our foster carers live in a wide area, from Wigan to Bolton and the west of Manchester to Brighouse in West Yorkshire.

All of our foster carers drive and we hold regular training events and social get-togethers either at our office in Saddleworth or in the local vicinity.

We believe in the principle of 'small is beautiful' and we pride ourselves on every member of staff having excellent knowledge of every child placed in our care. Read our recent Ofsted report for more information on our service.

Safehouses North Fostering Panel

Safehouses Fostering Panel meets approximately six times a year to oversee the activities of the agency.   They ensure that only suitable applicants are approved to become foster carers and that all the necessary safeguards are put in place to protect children from abuse.

Members of the Fostering Panel are drawn from a variety of backgrounds in social work, health, education etc.   Three members of the Panel are employed by the agency - a director and two social workers - and the other seven are independant.

The current Chair of the Fostering Panel is Diane Cleasby, an experienced Child Protection Manager from Lancashire County Council.

Dates of our Fostering Panel for 2008 / 2009

12th November 2008
14th January 2009  -  to be confirmed
4th March 2009
22nd April 2009
10th June 2009
22nd July 2009