Before leaving us, we wanted to capture Sara’s thoughts on a decade of leading our fostering charity, transforming the culture of a 200-year-old organisation and advocating for a rights-based approach to the care of children and young people.
Sara Lovelock, Chief Operating Officer at Carolina House Trust, will leave the charity on Friday 14 August to take up the role of Strategic Inspector with the Care Inspectorate. A qualified social worker since 1993, Sara joined CHT after serving as a senior manager for child protection, youth justice and early intervention within local government.
Independent fostering organisations
As she prepares for her next chapter, she believes one of the biggest misconceptions facing the sector is that smaller, independent fostering organisations are less effective than larger providers.
Sara said, “There is tremendous value in independent fostering providers, but that isn’t always recognised. We’re often viewed as the underdog, but our size is actually one of our greatest strengths. We can adapt quickly, respond to new legislation and guidance without delay, and continually improve the support we offer children and foster carers. When you’re a smaller organisation, you’re much closer to the realities of children’s lives. Good care depends on responding to children’s needs as they change, and that’s exactly what we do.”
Investing in learning & development
Sara also believes the sector must continue investing in learning and development to ensure carers have the knowledge they need to support the children and young people in their care.
“We never want staff or carers to feel they’re facing challenges without the right knowledge. Whether it’s neurodivergence, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder or trauma-informed and relationship-based practice, we have a responsibility to keep learning. If we don’t, we can’t provide the standard of care children deserve.”
Support for children & young people
She also wants to challenge the perception that, as a charity and independent provider, it is just a foster care placement that is provided. “We are a community and we provide tailored support whether it be therapeutic interventions or a programme of fun participation events for young people, carers and staff”.
Looking back on the past decade, Sara believes one of the charity’s greatest strengths has been the relationships it has built with children, young people and foster carers.
“Our managed caseloads give us the time to really know the children and carers we support. That depth of understanding is only possible when you have the time to build trusted relationships. For me, that’s what great fostering is all about.”
Foster carer recruitment
Looking ahead, Sara believes one of the biggest challenges facing the sector is recruitment. Across the UK, more than 7,000 additional foster carers are needed over the next 12 months.
“We work hard to share the experiences of our foster carers through our marketing, press and media, helping to dispel myths about who can foster and what fostering involves. While those stories haven’t yet translated into the number of enquiries we’d like, this is a national issue and one we all need to keep working on. Ultimately, I’d love to see fostering recognised as a positive choice that transforms the lives of children and young people. Every single person working in fostering has a role to play as an advocate for that.”
Continuing Care as a major change in the last decade
New legislation has helped reshape fostering for the better, particularly children’s right to remain with their foster families beyond their 18th birthday, as laid out in the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act 2026.
“Continuing Care has been one of the most important changes during my career. It has required us to prepare carers to support young adults as well as children, while reinforcing the importance of children’s rights in everything we do. Every policy, every procedure and every decision now has to be viewed through a children’s rights lens. More recent legislation has strengthened those rights even further, including lifelong support and access to advocacy. That’s exactly how it should be.”
Embedding Growth Mindset
And, while keeping pace with legislation has been essential, Sara believes the charity has gone beyond compliance by embedding a Growth Mindset culture.
“Here, people are encouraged to learn from mistakes, respectfully challenge one another and continually improve. That growth mindset ultimately leads to better outcomes for children. We’ve also invested heavily in relationship-based, trauma-informed practice for all staff. Even the language we use has changed. We no longer talk about ‘family contact’ – we talk about ‘family time’. It sounds like a small change, but language shapes thinking, and thinking shapes practice. In the same way, we try not to define children by labels or behaviours. Those subtle shifts help create a more compassionate, child-centred culture.”
Award-winning culture
As she prepares to leave, Sara says she is proudest of the organisation’s culture.
“This award-winning organisation is in the strongest position it’s ever been. We’ve built an incredible community around our children, young people and foster carers, and I don’t think people here fully appreciate just how good they are.
“If I could change one thing before I leave, it would be the perception that because we’re small, we somehow can’t be exceptional. I know from experience that the opposite is true.”
More information
If you are thinking about fostering with us, you can read more or get in touch with us. We would be delighted to talk to you abot the support we can offer.