During Foster Care Fortnight, the annual campaign to raise awareness of fostering, we invited our foster carers to a Hawaiian themed family picnic to thank them for everything they do and emphasise the theme of the fortnight, #FosteringCommunities.

Fostering and adoption staff were joined by foster carers, adopters and their families at the community event, organised by the Diagrama team.

Everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather, Hawaiian music, bouncy castle, hula hoops, lei making, face painting and a very competitive limbo competition.

Our picnics are held biannually and are a great way for families to meet and share their experiences of fostering and adoption, widen their community network, make new friends and allow the children to play together in a safe enclosed space.

Kate Patel, Head of Fostering and Adoption Diagrama Foundation said, “Our picnics are a fantastic opportunity for our fostering and adoption community to come together and enjoy peer to peer friendships and socialising in a friendly and relaxed environment. During the day the Diagrama team ensured everyone had fun with the organised activities and spent valuable time relationship building with adopters and foster carers.”

David McGuire, Chief Executive, Diagrama Foundation said, “The event, held during Foster Care Fortnight, shows the vital nature of friendships and communities coming together to share fun times with one another. Events like this are very important to enhance the lives of our foster carers and adopters and ensure communities, life-long friendships and relationships are built and maintained. It's also a great opportunity for the children to play with and form friendships with, other children in a safe and friendly atmosphere.”

One of the families attending the picnic said, “Thanks for inviting us to join in the fun. It is great for us to meet other families like ours and rekindle some friendships.” Kate Patel continued, “With an urgent need for more foster carers, we would urge people to step forward and talk to our team about fostering (or adoption) and become part of our valued friendly community!”

To find out more about fostering with Diagrama, click here - or call us on 0800 802 1910.