Kinship carers are friends or family who step up to raise a child when their parents aren’t able to.
We have been asked by our friends at Kinship to share the following opportunity with you:
Oxfordshire has been selected to take part in a national research trial of Kinship Connected.
Kinship Connected is a free 6-month support programme run by Kinship, the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales.
The programme is being trialled as part of a research study funded by Foundations (the national What Works Centre for children and families through the Department for Education).
Kinship are holding a local event in Oxfordshire on Wednesday 10 June 2026 where kinship carers can come along, find out more about the programme, ask questions, have a delicious lunch and you can sign up if you’d like to take part.
The venue is:
TheVenue@Cowley
242B Barns Road
Oxford
OX4 3RQ
To book and read more information download the flyer here or visit the Kinship website: https://kinship.org.uk/oxfordshire
What is Kinship Connected?
Kinship Connected is a free intensive, one-to-one support programme for all kinship carers except kinship foster carers. You’ll have your own local Kinship Navigator based in Oxfordshire who is a dedicated member of the Kinship team. They will work alongside you for six months.
Your Navigator will:
- work with you one-to-one, at home or somewhere in your community
- help you set goals that matter to you and support you to achieve them
- develop your own personalised and practical toolkit and plan
- connect you with practical support, financial information, and services
- come with you to meetings or conversations that feel daunting
- help you find and connect with other kinship carers
The programme is completely free and open to kinship carers across a range of arrangements whether you have a legal order or not. It is not available to kinship foster carers.
What is the reserach trial?
Kinship Connected is being tested as part of a national research trial, a pilot randomised control trial funded by the Department for Education. Oxfordshire is one of 4 local authority areas taking part.
Kinship want to be transparent with you about what this means. If you apply to the programme:
- you will be randomly allocated to either start the programme straight away, or to join a waitlist. If you are on the waitlist, you will start the programme around six months later
- this is not based on how much support you need - it’s how this research trial works
- everyone who joins will receive the full six months of support
- the evidence from this trial will help make the case for kinship carers across England your experience will make a difference
You can read more about the trial and what taking part would mean for you at: https://kinship.org.uk/oxfordshire
Not sure if this is for you?
Come to the event and find out. You don’t need to make any decisions on the day. There will be a member of the friendly Kinship team there to answer your questions, and you’ll be able to talk to other kinship carers too.
If you can’t make it to the event but would like to find out more, you can visit https://kinship.org.uk/oxfordshire or email Kinship at navigator@kinship.org.uk.
Please note: Clear Sky Children's Charity has no affiliation to Kinship or the Kinship Connected programme. Please direct all questions to Kinship.
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