Gloucestershire County Council is calling for more people in the county to come forward to foster children of all ages, particularly older children, teenagers and children with complex needs.
The call coincides with the launch of Foster Care Fortnight (Monday 12th - Sunday 25th May) - a nationwide campaign organised by the Fostering Network to highlight the need for more foster carers in the UK. This year's campaign is highlighting the need for more foster carers for teenagers.
Fostering can mean anything from looking after a child with a disability for a few hours to caring for a teenager for a few years. Although parents still have legal responsibility for the child, foster carers have day-to-day responsibility for their welfare.
advertisement
At the end of March 2008, 314 children in Gloucestershire were in foster care. The Fostering Network estimates that almost 50,000 children and young people in the UK live with 37,000 foster families. It is estimated that nearly 10,000 more foster carers are needed nationally - 600 of whom are needed in the South West.
County Councillor Paul McLain, Cabinet Member for Young People said: "Our aim for all children is to give them the best possible life chances, which means offering the opportunity to foster to the widest possible range of people. We particularly need people who would welcome older children, teenagers and brothers and sisters. We already have a tremendous network of dedicated foster carers in Gloucestershire, many of whom have been carers for ten years or more and some for very much longer. Fostering is a challenging role to take on but it can make a real difference to a child's life. Raising awareness of the need for more foster carers is essential if children are to find homes successfully and this is what we hope to achieve during Foster Care Fortnight. This is a great opportunity to talk to someone to see if you have what's needed and find out more without any obligation. So if you are interested in fostering please pick up the phone and find out more."
Mandy and Paul Gay from Cheltenham have been fostering for more than seven years. They have four grown up children of their own, including an adopted son with Downs Syndrome and are currently fostering a 12 year old girl and her five year old brother and another five year old boy. All three children will be with Mandy and Paul for the long-term. Mandy and Paul first became interested in fostering when they adopted their son, Daniel, now 20. They started out fostering teenagers, before moving on to caring for younger children. All but one of the children they have fostered over the years are still in touch and go back to visit the family, some of them with their own children. Paul is now a full time foster carer. As more children, with greater needs, joined their family he cut his work down until he took the decision to devote all his time to fostering. He had been a factory manager and his last job before he gave up working was working with challenging children at Kingsmead School. Both Paul and Mandy love caring for children, even though it can be hard work. Paul said: "We wouldn't do anything else, we love it!" When Alfie' went to live with the family 18 months ago he couldn't speak - the only word he could say was petrol'! It was thought he had serious learning difficulties, but now he is developing well and behaving more like an average five year old. He currently attends a special school, but may be able to move to a mainstream school soon. He gets on brilliantly with his foster brother, Lewis' - the two boys choose to share a bedroom. Mandy said: "They're like brothers, they're very attached to each other." Paul and Mandy's 21 year old daughter, Kaylee, lives at home and is a great help with the children. Paul and Mandy would encourage anyone who loves children and who has the space at home to consider fostering. Paul speaks at information evenings for prospective foster parents. He said: "I help people relax and talk about our experiences. It helps them decide if fostering is the right thing for them. I have so many mates who would be brilliant foster carers, but they're not sure! Most people are very supportive of what we do, but some people think we're mad!"
Yasmin, 22, from Gloucester, had been in and out of foster care for a number of years until her best friend's mum became her foster carer. Yasmin said: "When I was 14, I became close to a friend at school and I started to open up to her and tell her about the problems I was having at home.
"My friend told her mum and one day we got talking and she said she was willing to take me on as her foster daughter. I refer to her as mum and she's always called me her daughter. She never made me feel left out."
Gloucestershire County Council accepts applications from all sectors of the society and people can be married, single, unmarried couples, gay, have their own children, retired, a homeowner or unemployed. All children are different, and to meet their needs the County Council is looking for a wide variety of people.
The County Council is also particularly on the lookout for carers who can offer frequent respite to teenagers to supporttheir long-term foster care placement.
Anyone wishing to find out more about becoming a foster carer can contact Gloucestershire County Council's Fostering Team on 01242 532654 or visit one of their information points to find out more:
* Saturday 17 May (Farmers Market, Stroud 8am-3pm)
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
