Meet The Team
Debbie Bavister
Director
Welcome to Oak Fostering, I am Debbie, and I am the Director of Oak Fostering. Oak began in 2017, and it was born out of an idea that we would be different. The main principle was to really know those who Foster for Oak and know our children, having good working relationships to enable Fostering families to have a strong link with the agency. Alongside this, I wanted to provide training and support which would develop carers professionally and teach them about trauma and how it manifests in behaviours. Oak supports carers so that they can sustain periods of crisis and emotionally hold onto children, so that in the longer term the child learns that they can be loved and looked after.
I became a Social Worker because my parents Fostered for 10 years. As a young adult, I learnt the importance of listening and supporting carers meant that children had more secure and long-term connections in families. If the carers were cared for then they could care for others. It is simple but often missed. For 20 years, I have worked in Social Care, and I am proud that at Oak we are making a difference.
Oak has always been about quality not quantity and we have no ambition to be a large national service. Our aim is to have a successful number of Foster families who care for children until they reach the age where they are ready for adulthood. We know the children in our service, and we know and value our carers. There are of course challenging times but when working together with carers, many situations are easily resolved and worked though.
Fostering is not easy but anything worth doing does not always come easy,. Fostering requires commitment, resilience and dedication by people who are able to connect and make sense of a child’s journey. If you have ever considered Fostering then we would be more than happy to have those initial conversations to help support and grow that interest. Our team has a wealth of experience within fostering, and we are ready to share why fostering is the right decision.
Abbie Mcgee
Administrator
I have worked for Oak as an Administrator since March 2021. I first met Debbie through having horses in 2018 where I first met my beautiful horse. Me and Debbie knew each other for a few years before I moved over to work for her at the wonderful Oak!
Prior to Oak I supervised a restaurant, so this role was very different, but it has been absolutely incredible to learn about the fostering world and do my bit to help place children with wonderful Foster Carers.
Debbie and the team are absolutely wonderful, and I adore working for Oak. Our small team of Foster Carers are incredible, and I am so honoured to work with them.
In my spare time I am a dance teacher and of course I have my own horse who I see every day! I am a very kind and generous person who loves to socialise and be around people and animals.
Patricia Ali
Supervising Social Worker
I completed my Diploma in Social work 2003 and have worked over 20 years within Local Authority Children services in the North and South regions.
I’ve worked within various roles primarily working within Safeguarding and looked after children services. Whilst in Children looked After team, I became the lead in supporting asylum seeking children . I completed the specialist Age assessment training and carried out several assessments.
During my early years of qualifying, I had the opportunity to work in a residential setting in Ireland for a short period. I also worked in a youth offending Institution as a Senior Practitioner where I developed links between Local Authorities and prison board members. This was to achieve best support for looked after children on release from prison.
In 2018 started as a Supervising Social worker in Fostering Team and took an interest in wellbeing for staff and became my teams wellbeing champion.
Alongside this I was elected to set up and lead a steering group to develop foster carers practice guidance to enable better outcomes for looked after children from ethnic minority.
Since starting at Oak Fostering, I have set up monthly wellbeing workshops for staff and carers and I’m passionate about developing this further. I’m personally interested in understanding trauma, loss and separation and intend to develop further Knowledge through training next year. Outside of my professional role, this year I decided to be part of a mentoring group supporting people who are victims of crime.
I have a positive outlook on life and don’t take myself too seriously as I believe life is too short. I enjoy nature and being outdoors and would say this is my happy place. I love walking my dog Marley, spending time with family and friends and meeting people, travel, eating out, trying new experiences .( I once got chosen to be in an advert with Micheal Barrymore) and was a contestant in a ITV game show (Strike it lucky).
I recently started reading Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King. How self-love is the key to unlocking your greatness.
Dawn
Supervising Social Worker
I had always worked in an “accounting environment” since leaving school. Whilst I enjoyed working with numbers (and still find number puzzles a form of relaxation) I missed people contact; so, when my daughter started full time school, I decided it was time for change and I became a student and started on the path to becoming a social worker.
I qualified as a Social Worker in 1998 and have worked in various roles since then; including youth offending and education welfare. I worked at a local airport for a few years, having a break from social work, or so I thought, as all my social work skills were put to use by passengers who had missed their flights or when planes had a technical fault, and they could not travel. After a work-related accident, I was no longer able to continue this role.
I then returned to social work supporting adults with mental health illnesses and supporting their children at home and in school. I have worked with children in care, mental health, adults with disabilities, adoption and fostering.
I trained to be a practice teacher, and I enjoy having student Social Workers, as their energy and enthusiasm is refreshing to have in the team. Having worked in both statutory and voluntary sectors my knowledge base has broadened immensely since I qualified. Having the opportunity to co-work with the legal, educational and health professions, children’s’ homes and carers has enabled me to gain insight into the benefits of multi-agency working, whilst also experiencing the variety of difficulties that arise when you have different theoretical bases and working methods.
Since being at Oak I have undertaken training to become an NVQ assessor for the carers in residential homes. I am currently looking at becoming more focussed on life story work; so, I will be attending further training next year to better my knowledge and to offer this service for Oak.
Today I can recognise my strengths and accept my vulnerabilities. I am able to empathise with others and share feelings because of my experiences and I feel this is useful when working with young people. I enjoy working with people, I am direct but diplomatic in my approach. I take pride in my work and use my initiative to complete tasks on time.
I have a fun loving, bubbly and humorous personality and I strive to do my best to enable my clients to achieve a positive outcome and for their voice to be heard, thus empowering them. I actively promote a non-discriminatory environment in all aspects of my personal and professional roles.
Sam Wellington
Supervising Social Worker
I am a Supervising Social Worker within the Oak team.
I have worked continuously for over 32 years in a variety of settings with children, young people and their families. This includes education, school improvement team, lecturer, social care manager and social worker in both children and Fostering Teams, for local government departments.
I am passionate about working in an anti-oppressive, creative and empowering way with children, young people and foster carers.
I truly believe in being a part of the team around the child and being part of a service that listens and engages with each child and has a commitment to improve and transform their lives.
In my spare time, I love spending time with my family, friends and enjoy eating a wide range of cuisine.
I also write children’s books.
Fostering Changes Lives, Including Yours.
Becoming a foster carer with Oak Fostering means joining a community that’s committed to giving children a safe, stable home, and supporting you every step of the way.
