Carer Council Member: Alex Ingleton

 

Please meet Alex Ingleton, a Carer Council member, based in metropolitan Adelaide.

Alex is a foster carer who provides specialist and respite care. Alex became a foster carer after working in emergency residential care and realising the need for foster carers, Alex began by providing respite to children whom she used to work with and now has a teenage young person in long-term care. Alex also provides regular respite for a number of other children.

In addition to caring, Alex works in the Community Services sector, where she has held a number of frontline and leadership roles over the past 13 years.

Alex shared some of her carer background and thoughts about the Carer Council with us:

 

 

Q: What are your fondest memories of caring?

There are too many to recount!… lots of fun activities, holidays, laughs, cries and chats! I love seeing the young people grow and gain more confidence as they overcome challenges, learn new skills and find themselves. I often reflect on the progress of the young people I care for and it’s phenomenal to see how far they’ve come.

 

Q: What are your hopes for the Carer Council?

I hope we can make changes to support the caring community and most importantly, the young people in care. I would like to see systemic change to influence attraction and retention of carers now and into the future, ensure the voices of young people and carers are at the centre of all decisions and see a system that is fair and equitable.

 

Q: What relevant skills and experience do you bring to the Carer Council?

I am deeply passionate about the wellbeing of children and young people in care, as well as the carers who support them on a daily basis. Having experience working at multiple levels across the broader sector, including child protection, homelessness, youth, family support, education, mental health and alcohol & other drugs in addition to my role as a foster carer, I bring a unique combination of personal and professional experience to the Council.

I have experience working with reform and systems level advocacy, I am pragmatic but a strategic thinker so I believe I will combine this with my lived experience to contribute to long-term, sustainable change.