Administrator

Hello there! My name is Gemma Brookman and I am an Administrator for Calon Cymru Fostering in Cardiff. I am a fairly new member of the company so this is a good opportunity for you to put a face to the name.

A large part of my role within the Admin Team involves arranging and preparing documents for Foster Carers Annual Reviews. Although the thought of carrying out my review duties in a lockdown scenario seemed daunting at first, my new working arrangement has gradually become ‘the norm’ and it’s business as usual, just a few more emails and less phone calls! I’m happy to say that since lockdown, Carers Reviews have still managed to take place and are, for the moment, being conducted via telephone with the RO Officer instead of the usual face to face meeting in our offices! However, this new plan means I certainly do miss ‘meeting and greeting’ Carers when they do visit for their reviews-it’s always lovely to become acquainted, make you a cup of tea/coffee and have a little chat.

There have been times since saying ‘farewell for now’ to my desk in the Cardiff Office that things have felt tough as I haven’t had the pleasure of being around my team for my usual dose of daily glee. However, as I’m fortunate to be part of such a supportive group of colleagues, things have been made to feel so much easier thanks to regular team catch-ups via zoom, emails, and Whatsapp. We give little daily updates to each other about what we’ve got up to and it really does cheer me up listening to one another’s stories. I am still struggling with my out of control hair at the moment-so my poor team has had to witness some questionable ‘up-do’s’.

Throughout these trying months, I am continuing to be impressed by how Calon Cymru Fostering has been able to provide their usual non-stop support even in the face of adversity. It’s made me feel quite proud to be a part of such a compassionate and hardworking organisation.

Stay Safe and well and I hope to see you all soon.