The Core Team
Louise Devlin - Registered Manager
Louise qualified as a Social Worker back in 1994. She has worked in various Local Authority Teams, including Child Protection and Children Looked After. Louise has also undertaken the roles of Deputy Manager of a Children's Home and Manager of a Leaving Care Team.
Louise has vast experience of fostering, having worked for a Local Authority's Connected Person's Team, Independent Fostering Agencies (in both Practitioner and Management roles) and as Registered Manager of a Foster Care Charity.
Her drive to establish a small agency was that of wanting to be part of a small Management Team, who have overall say over the type of Foster Carers recruited. The direct experience that she has gained over the years has highlighted what type of placements work best for different children and how important the right family is. She believes it is essential to employ Foster Carers who will give it their all, be open to training and have an open door policy when a child leaves their care. Louise has been part of a group that have taken some of our young people to Romania, Bulgaria and Poland. She wants to continue offering opportunities and encouraging young people to experience as much as they can. She is a strong advocate for children in the looked after system and those making the transition to semi-independent living.
Jenny Bird -
Senior Supervising Social Worker
Jenny qualified as a Social Worker in 2013, and since then has worked as a Supervising Social Worker in the Fostering field.
Jenny’s role at Tutis Foster Care is to support carers to provide consistency, care and guidance to Children Looked After placed in their care, enabling them to achieve positive outcomes. Drawing on her own life experience as a parent and knowledge from various roles in the industry, this has enabled Jenny to deliver outstanding support to all the foster families who work with Tutis Foster Care.
Jenny thoroughly enjoys her work, and looks forward to each challenging yet rewarding day, knowing she is working to better the lives of children in the care system. Jenny is proud to work at Tutis Foster Care alongside a fantastic team who share the same ethos and work collaboratively, supporting carers in innovative ways. It is a rewarding and fulfilling job, and she is always inspired by the children and carers she has the opportunity to work with.
Charles Murray -
Supervising Social Worker
Charlie has been a qualified Social Worker since 2000 and since then he has worked in a multitude of positions in his field. Charlie’s career has been predominantly based around children and young people, including Children and Families, Leaving Care, Youth Offending Services and Children’s Mental Health services. In 2009 Charlie started fostering and was the first provider in Cumbria for the Homestays service. His fostering experience has given him great empathy for looked after children as well as a deeper understanding of what it takes to be a foster carer. Charlie’s goal is to offer support to children from all backgrounds and to help young people achieve positive life outcomes.
Janice’s joined Tutis Foster care, to deliver Trauma informed practice, in her role as Therapeutic Family Worker. She has 28 years of experience, working in frontline services and management roles, having previously worked across 3 directorates in Children’s Services, Education Services and Adult Services.
She has worked in Residential care and Family Placement, supporting both foster carers, children and young people, where her passion is to ensure that children feel empowered, healthy and happy in order to reach their full potential.
The majority of her career had been spent working with or on behalf of vulnerable people. Janice is passionate about what she does and her background in working with trauma enables vulnerable children and young people, to build trusting relationships, to heal and most of all to feel safe.
Emma Leeder -
Office Manager
I have worked in and round different fostering setting for more than 15 years, I also have experience of working with adult social care. I Lived in Cumbria for a little over 10 years, before moving to South Yorkshire, although I am still a frequent visitor to the Lakes, as and when I am needed. I am an experienced Director, Programme & Senior Service Leader, boasting diverse experience across the health, social, and business sectors. My background encompasses the successful delivery of transformative programmes, expertise in compliance, and proficient management of business functions. I am skilled at engaging with key stakeholders to ensure regulatory, CQC, and Ofsted compliance, while also orchestrating effective service changes and negotiation processes. My track record showcases proven excellence in service implementation, resource optimisation, and transition management. I am equipped with effective communication and problem-solving abilities. myself and my husband also run our own very successful safeguarding consultancy service, which sees us working very closely with numerous fostering agencies, Local Authorities, school and colleges. We have 2 very boisterous Patterdale Terriers, who keep us on our toes!...
Nigel Leeder -Panel Chair
I have over thirty five years’ experience of school governance, including 10 years continuous service on a Primary School governing body, the last 5 of those as Chair, and still Chair of Governors in a Senior School. Drafting the Terms of Reference for more than ten Serious Case Reviews, including discussing the requirements with Independent Authors around timescales and budget, Learning the Lessons Multi-agency meetings, presenting initial draft SCRs to Local Child Safeguarding Boards, supporting the formulation of Actions and Recommendations from the Review and managing the completion of the Action Plans. Over twenty years’ experience of delivering child safeguarding training to multi-agency delegates on all aspects of child safeguarding. I have delivered hundred's of hours training to Foster Carers and the agency's that support them.
After a very long and successful flying career in the Royal Air Force, I went on to work for over twenty years in Children’s Services, delivering 1000’s of hours training to professionals and carers working with and supporting children, young people and families. Working in various counties across East Anglia, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, I am now based in South Yorkshire.
In my spare time, I have a love of music and was for ten years the Musical Director of a youth orchestra in Lincolnshire and a Peripatetic Music Teacher. I am also Chair and Safeguarding Governor of an Ofsted Rated Outstanding Senior School in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
Providing training, support, advice and guidance especially to those whose day job is working with children, young people and families is extremely rewarding. They have the challenge of working directly with children and families and being able to offer both professionals and carers an opportunity to reflect on working practice, skills and communication, especially around Safeguarding and Child Development brings its own reward.
Robin Lovegrove -
Responsible Individual
I am the Tutis “Responsible Individual” which sounds grander than I am, but I do feel proud to be involved with this lovely organisation. As I write this I have just spent a delightful day with the staff and most of the children, from 3 to 15 years ,whilst their carers have few hours off. The older children were kind, generous and patient with the little ones and they all had a jolly good play. The Responsible individual bit means that I am the one who nags the Manager and Directors to ensure that they operate within the safe regulatory framework that OFSTED expects them to follow. They accept my incessant nagging with good grace I have to say. I can also say that with this organisation has the children both at front and centre of what they do.
Am I eligible to foster?
''Why not take our Quick Quiz to see if you (in principle) are eligible to foster?.''
