This festive period Stoke-on-Trent City Council and foster carers in the city are urging residents to think about fostering as 1,135 children will be in care this Christmas.
No matter how often a person can foster - short term, weekends or emergencies only, foster carers are immensely needed.
Foster carer Lorraine Warren said: “Sometimes we are a child’s first everything. Birthday, Christmas, it feels magical seeing their faces when there are gifts just for them and knowing we helped to give them some happy memories that stay with them forever.”
Foster carer Sophie Conlon said: “It's always a magical time of year and being able to give children the chance to feel the love and magic makes it a whole lot more special for us.”
Foster carer Donna Smith said: “It’s magical, making their dreams come true. Doing naughty elf, something the majority of them have never even seen before.
To help promote fostering the city council is running a Christmas Fostering campaign working with partners and Fostering Friendly organisations.
There is no typical foster carer and Stoke-on-Trent City Council Fostering team is keen to hear from anyone who has a spare bedroom and wants to make a difference to the lives of children in Stoke-on-Trent. Age, gender, religious or cultural background, sexual orientation or relationship status will not be taken into account when assessing fostering applications.
A fostering friendly employer is an organisation or business that helps employees who are foster carers or who want to become foster carers. Members of the scheme agree to put in place a fostering friendly HR policy for all foster carers in their employment. Help could include having policies that offer foster carers flexible working or paid time off for child care training, fostering-related meetings, or settling a new child into their home.
Adam Brunt, Community Engagement Officer at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue, one of our Fostering Friendly organisations, said: ‘Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service is incredibly proud to be a Fostering Friendly organisation and continues to work closely with Stoke-on-Trent City Council to support them in events to raise awareness of the need for local families to offer support for children who are in need. We look forward to continuing our positive relationship with them in the future.”
Councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for Children’s Services said: “Many of us will be planning to spend the festive period with friends and family but there are children in care in the city who won’t be spending Christmas with loved ones.
“As a city council we’re committed to reducing the number of children in care and finding children safe, loving homes. A recent Ofsted report found that more children are ‘achieving security and stability’ in permanent homes and we’re implementing key policies like higher skills payments for foster carers who foster second and third children. This means more children cared for locally in the city and more foster carers able to care for sibling groups.
“Help us make a child in care’s Christmas wish come true. If you’re a local business in the city who wants to make a difference by becoming fostering friendly or someone who’s interested in giving a child in care a loving home, we want to hear from you.”
Local businesses in Stoke-on-Trent who are interested in becoming Fostering Friendly can email the Stoke-on-Trent City Council Fostering Team at fostering@stoke.gov.uk to learn more.
Anyone who would like to know more about becoming a foster carer in Stoke-on-Trent can visit https://fostering.stoke.gov.uk or call 01782 234555.
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