Children’s care charity promotes director to CEO

The Fostering Network has promoted its director Sarah Thomas to be its next chief executive.

She takes the top role after two years at the children's social care charity leading work in Wales and England and launching its learning and development function.

Qualified social worker Thomas’ previous roles include two years as a service manager at the Association for Fostering and Adoption Cymru and 14 years at the City and County of Swansea as a frontline social worker and manager.

“As I take up this post I reflect on each and every one of the fostering families and social workers that I have been privileged to work alongside and learn from since I set out as a supervising social worker in 2003,” she said.

“There have been many developments in the fostering sector since I began my career; legislation, policy and practice move on. It is now more important than ever to ensure that we keep children and young people at the heart of all that we do, to work together to improve outcomes for future generations.”

The Fostering Network are delighted to announce the appointment of our new chief executive, Sarah Thomas.

Sarah looks forward leading the charity going forward and meeting members and stakeholders over the coming weeks.@tfn_Sarah

🔗Read more: https://t.co/FSVT2LDV2b pic.twitter.com/Xao4gZ1DYh
— The Fostering Network (@fosteringnet) May 18, 2023

Thomas replaces Kevin Williams, who announced his retirement earlier this year after eight years in the role.

The charity’s chair Mervyn Erskine added: “Her enthusiasm for the organisation and its potential, combined with her in-depth knowledge and experience of the fostering community, made her the standout choice to lead the organisation.

‘Sarah will be leading The Fostering Network through a challenging and exciting period, with the current focus on fostering across all the governments of the UK. We are confident that Sarah will help steer the organisation positively through these opportunities, helping achieve our aim of making fostering the best it can be for our children.”