About me

Meet The Adoption & Fostering Manager

Hi I am Marilyn Cunningham the Adoption & Fostering Manager at St Margarets and first joined the team in November 2020 as a sessional social worker. Due to finding the role extremely rewarding, I moved on to a full-time post within the social work team in May 2021. My role at that time involved delivering preparation groups, assessing prospective adopters, family finding and post placement support. I transitioned to my current role within the agency in May 2023, feeling it was the right time to take on a management post, where I could utilise my extensive social work skills and experience.

My current role within the agency involves supervising and supporting members of the social work team. I work in partnership with the assessing social workers to identify and assess prospective adopters/carers for children within our communities. I am also responsible for designing our training programme, which supports adopters/carers to enhance their knowledge and understanding as they build their confident in their new caring roles.

I have worked previously within frontline children and family teams as well as working alongside foster carers. Each role has provided opportunities to work in partnership with families and other professionals to safeguard and protect children, whilst supporting children to reach their individual potential.