Our Place was founded by Dr. Randy Lee Comfort, MSW, Ph.D, who has worked for over 40 years in the fields of family counselling, learning disorders, and adoption and fostering and is the mother of both biological and adopted children.
Randy Comfort is the author of "The Unconventional Child", "Teaching the Unconventional Child", "The Child Care Catalogue" and numerous journal articles, and chapters in edited books. Her latest publication is "Searching to be Found - Understanding and Helping Adopted and Looked After Children with Attention Difficulties" published by Karnac Books, ISDN: 9781855754645
• Established in Bristol as a charity for families who foster and adopt.
Our Place supports families who already have a fostered or adopted child in their home.
• Constitutes a resource for professionals
Our Place is a resource for professionals who offer support and education to families who adopt or foster children.
• Addresses academic skills and social relationships
At Our Place families can meet with one another and with professional staff who can help parents to understand the emotional, behavioural, health and educational needs of the children in their care. This support can help in the prevention of placement disruptions. The Centre also offers individual tutoring either in the home or at Our Place. Our Place provides consistency and reliability for parents, carers and children.
• Provides activities for Tots and After School groups
Our Place provides a full programme of free activities throughout the year. Parties, Half Term activities and Holiday activities are all available. At the Centre, the Art Room is a favourite and well used by Tots, After School children and adults.
Cooking in the kitchen continues to be very popular with children of all ages. Emphasis is given to helping the children make their own healthy snacks.
Please see our "calendar" page for details.
• Offers seminars and workshops
Our Place provides a full programme of seminars and workshops throughout the year. The seminars cover a wide variety of topics to suit the varying needs and interests of carers and adopters as well as professionals who come to Our Place.
As increasing knowledge about the Brain and the Effects of Neurological Damage from Trauma emerges in both the scientific world and the media, our seminars have tried to keep up with and share with families and professionals this growing body of research. We have also addressed the issues of Facebook, email, text and other contemporary technological influences.
Other seminars and workshops have dealt with grieving and loss, with speech and language in the young child and with the personal stories of adults who were adopted at early ages, both in the UK and from overseas.
Please see our "calendar" page for details.
• Has a library of relevant publications and DVDs
Many books and articles from the UK, the US and Australia are available, as well as Our Place's own Publications. Please see our "publications" page for details on the latter.
• Includes internationally adopted children
Our Place helps and supports a significant number of children adopted from overseas. Inter-Country Adoption workshops and parties are always well attended as this group of adopters finds it harder to establish outside links with others who have adopted from abroad.
• Works with parents of late teens
This group has become extremely well established, as families of older children recognise that adoption can be a life-long issue with which to grapple. Many of these parents met at Our Place when their children were little, and continue to maintain their friendships and support of one another.
• Has professionally qualified staff and consultants
Our Place benefits from professionally qualified staff of 12 core staff members.
In addition to its core staff, Our Place engages more than 20 part-time self-employed professional people who are involved in a wide variety of therapeutic, artistic, athletic and medical disciplines. They comprise a diverse group of talents, ethnic backgrounds, special interests and adoption/fostering experiences.
All staff members have enhanced CRB checks, as do those who help us in children's activities.
Our Trustees :
Mrs. Celia Balbernie
Mrs. Margaret Borkowski
Dr. Megan Comfort
Dr. Randy Lee Comfort
Mr and Mrs. Michael Cordey
Prof. Alan Emond
Mrs. Sandra Hopkins
We were Ofsted inspected in 2008 with exemplary results.
