About Kinship Carers UK
Meet Enza Smith MBE
Enza Smith MBE
Enza Smith, MBE, is the founder and CEO of Kinship Carers UK. A teacher by trade, Enza became a kinship carer for her two grandchildren following her eldest daughter’s inability to cope with being a young parent and difficulties with substance abuse. Determined to ensure her two grandchildren were given the care they deserved, Enza took them in and thus began her experience as a kinship carer.
Like many other kinship carers, isolated, confused, and feeling alone, Enza turned to the internet for support and answers to her questions. Enza realised that more must be done to help kinship carers in her home town of Worcester. In 2011, Enza set up a small grass roots charity and the first support group began, the charity began to build a community of kinship carers where advice and experiences was shared. In 2015 Kinship Carer’s UK became a registered CIO Charity.
Our Story
Kinship Carers UK is a national charity supporting and advising kinship carers. Kinship care is when a child lives full-time with a relative or friend who isn't their parent, usually because their parents aren't able to care for them.
Kinship Carers UK is run by professional kinship carers. Our CEO and founder, Enza Smith, has personal experience of being a kinship carer, as do many of our volunteers. Through our personal journeys, and the knowledge we’ve accrued along the way, we believe our strong community can support you through your kinship journey.
Our purpose is to advocate and help the carers and children through their journey. We are here to help keep your family together.
About Kinship Carers UK
Kinship Carers UK is a national not-for-profit charity. It champions the vital role of Kinship Carers, 'Connected Families' when they take on the challenging role of permanently parenting someone else’s child.
Kinship Carers UK helps kinship families succeed, we promote loving and supportive relationships between children, young people, and their kinship families. We provide independent support, information, and advice. In particular, we offer a wealth of relevant experience from kinship families to prospective kinship carers and to all those who work with them.
Kinship care consultancy offers the following:
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Support groups offering advice, emotional support, and encouragement
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Bespoke Kinship care training to carers and professionals
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Advocacy service and peer support programme for Kinship carers
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Kinship youth club for children and young people aged 6 - 16
Everything we do is designed to improve the day to day experiences of Kinship families by empowering and supporting them. We listen to what they say about their situation and identify, with them, positive changes that can be made.
Kinship Carers UK is a growing charity for a growing social issue. We are looking to bring about change to Kinship care policies, for a patron to advance our cause and for much needed charitable donations.