Muslim Children in Care
The Director of Sparks Fostering (Tay Jiva MBE) has been delivering training and producing guidance for Muslim staff and service users for many years. Further information about fostering is available on this website; prospective staff can find application information here and prospective foster carers can complete a short quiz to check their eligibility here.
Tay had been writing guidance and delivering training to support Muslim foster carers and Muslim children for several years before setting up her own fostering agency, and her work with Muslim foster carers was the reason for her being honoured with an MBE.
The Sparks Fostering projects with Muslims are outlined here:
Support for Muslim service users and staff
Social work providers sometimes struggle to communicate effectively with Muslim applicants, for example, when fostering applicants express concerns about caring for children of different gender or sexual identities. The Director of Sparks Fostering (Tay Jiva MBE) offers free consultancy to fostering agencies and can also speak with the applicants directly if needed.
Live online training on the topic of ‘Supporting Muslim service users and staff’ is available for any social care provider.
Guidance for professionals: Supporting children involved with social care through Ramadan.
Tay has also written guidance on how professionals can support Muslim children through Ramadan.
Mosques and community centres
Khutba (sermons) and posters in mosques
Sparks Fostering has written a sermon, which can be accessed here.
A poster has also been produced for mosques and Islamic community centers. Copies of the poster can be ordered for free. Also, if someone becomes a foster carer because they saw the poster, the person who put the poster up would be given the referral fee (£1,500 to £2,000 – see here for further information about the referral fees).
If your mosque or community centre has delivered a khutba/sermon on fostering or put up a poster (either those provided above, or others), add their details to this table.
Note: The person listed as the contact is eligible for referral fees.
Islamic Teachers
There are many Muslim children in care who are living in non-Muslim homes and don’t have access to the Muslim community, including tuition about Islam. Tay (the Director of Sparks Fostering) has been approached by several social workers who have been trying to find appropriate Islamic tuition for the children in their care. The preference is usually for face to face tuition (because the children usually respond better to face to face work), but they would also consider online tuition.
Sparks Fostering would like to create a directory of appropriate tutors. If you are a tutor, add your details below – social workers will contact you directly.
Fees for tuition can be negotiated between the tutor and the social worker.
Gifts for Muslim children in care
There are significant numbers of Muslim children and young adults who are going through challenges in their life and are being supported by services including social care, homeless services, and domestic violence refuges (to name a few). We can send a gift and an encouraging message to those who are struggling so they know that they are cared for.
The project is run by Tay (from Sparks Fostering, www.SparksFostering.org), with the support of Sadia (Hawa Gifts, HawaGifts.co.uk) and volunteer Sairah Yassir-Deane.
The gift pack contains a Quran speaker with night lights (usual value £40), prayer tasbeeh counter (usual value £8), a padded prayer mat, and an eid gift card with a message from the donor.
Professionals: If you work with Muslims as part of a registered support provider, you may add the details of your service user to the list below. Your email address has to be linked to a recognised provider (e.g. .gov.uk or @sparksfostering.org etc.). Do not mention to the service user that you have submitted the request because we can’t guarantee that they will receive a gift. Do not use the name, gender or identifying information in your description. Although it’s not a requirement, it would help the project if you could send a message and photo of yourself (and/or adult service users who give consent) to [email protected] when you receive the gifts.
To submit an application for the service user, Fill in this form below.
Donor: You can choose who to donate to, how much to donate, and you may leave a supportive, encouraging message for the recipient. You can even leave a team/group name so you can try to donate as many gifts as possible between yourselves.
In your message to the child, do not use your personal details, details of any organisation, or any contact information. Otherwise, your message will not be shared. You must not, under any circumstances, aim to seek direct contact with gift recipients.
Note that the main purpose of the gifts project is that the recipient feels cared for, valued, and that there are people who are praying for their success and happiness. The gift is symbolic – many recipients are in need of support and encouragement more than money.
Minimum donation is £5. Note: This is a lillah project, not zakat eligible (to the best of our knowledge).
Donations can only be taken by bank transfer to:
Acc no: 53634558
Sort code: 202620
S Faisal
