Carer Connect visit to Dinefwr Park Easter Trail

Carer Connect visit to Dinefwr Park Easter Trail

Recently, some of our foster carers in West Wales took advantage of our Carer Connect scheme to head out together on an Easter adventure at the National Trust site Dinefwr Park and Castle.

You can read more about our Carer Connect scheme later in this article but first we were so pleased to hear from foster carer, Marianne, who arranged this wholesome day out. Read on to see her feedback from the visit.

The Easter Egg trail started off outside, where we had to throw wellies with bird faces on them and measure how far we could let the ‘birds’ wellies fly. My ‘bird’ did not even get to the one-meter mark 😊. We then explored the other ‘stations’ where we built bird nests and bird sculptures, looked for bugs and counted (wooden) birds hidden in the trees.

Back at the house, we had an indoor egg and spoon race, which all the kids loved especially when I kept dropping my egg and came last (again) 😊. Our last station was outside the house where we had to hook ducks out of the fountain and to the delight of the older children, they were able to soak us adults. One of the children really loved this station as he is water obsessed.

The kids then collected their Easter Eggs, and we finished in the coffee shop with a well-deserved hot drink and a nice slice of cake. Most of the children chose the Easter Egg nest doughnut for a little treat. All the children who took part were a delight and appeared to enjoy not only the Easter Trail but also discovering the house itself.

Although the weather was against us, we had a fabulous time. The photos speak for themselves.

What a fantastic opportunity for foster carers to get together socially with the children and young people in their care to connect, socialize, build relationships and just relax, play and enjoy.

What is Carer Connect?

As a Calon Cymru foster carer you have access to many support channels, but Carer Connect is different. Carer Connect is a scheme run by Calon Cymru foster carers, to encourage carers to gather for social occasions where they can meet with other foster carers in an informal setting where communication can be much more social enabling foster carers to create strong, reliable relationships where they feel safe to relax in a non-judgmental space.

If you are already a Calon Cymru foster carer and would like to arrange a Carer Connect get together, speak to your Supervising Social Worker who can give you more details about how the scheme works, but ultimately the platform is in the hands of foster carers to arrange something they feel would be valuable and enjoyable. We can’t wait to hear what exciting adventures you go on together.

If you are thinking about becoming a Calon Cymru Foster carer, you can expect to be supported every step of the way. Carer Connect is just one of the support systems we have in place. You can read more about how we support and reward our hard-working and dedicated foster carers, including local support groups, Buddy Scheme and Decade Club in the blogs linked below.