Foster Care Fortnihtght
Could you help transform children’s
lives in Bedford Borough?
As it is Foster Care Fortnight, Bedford Borough Council is
taking the opportunity to call for more foster families to come
forward. In Bedford Borough, there is a particular need for those
people who might be able to care for children over the age of 8,
sibling groups and children with disabilities.
Many foster carers who choose to foster these groups of
children, in Bedford Borough, say how well Bedford Borough Council
has supported them to develop and evolve their current skillset in
order to give a home to children who could not live with their
birth family.
Cllr Shan Hunt, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Social Care,
said: “We are very proud of our foster carers in Bedford Borough
and we really need more families to start their fostering career
with us. Foster carers need a delicate blend of skills and
attributes such as being a good listener, having patience and
warmth all complimented by a good understanding of what it means to
be a parent or carer. Our foster carers will receive excellent
training and support all the time as well as a fee and allowances
when they are looking after someone.”
According to The Fostering Network, the UK’s leading fostering
charity which runs Foster Care Fortnight, over 7,000 more people
with the right skills and experience are needed to offer loving,
stable and secure homes to children and young people across the
UK.
Read how a steady placement in stable home transformed the life
of an 8-year-old who had been in care all his life:
https://www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/blogs/foster-care-fortnight/all-i-want-do-dance-sing-and-act-matthews-story
Kevin Williams, Chief Executive of The Fostering Network, said:
“Foster families can transform fostered children’s lives, giving
them the chance of having the childhood they deserve, a childhood
that they otherwise may not have had. Foster carers are amazing
people, performing an invaluable role that really serves the whole
community.
‘A wider pool of foster carers enables fostering services to be
able to match the needs of each child more closely with the skills
that each foster carer brings, and to find the right home for each
child, first time. That’s why we are urging people in Bedford
Borough to get in touch with their fostering service today.”
If you have a spare bedroom and think that you are able to offer
the care and attention that a foster child will need, then please
contact our fostering service on 01234 718718 or
visit
http://bedford.gov.uk/health_and_social_care/adoption_and_fostering/fantastic_foster_carers.aspx
