FosterCare Fortnight 2020

Vital contribution of foster families highlighted during coronavirus

Every day circa 55,000 foster families across the UK are giving around 65,000 fostered children and young people a loving, secure and stable home, and this commitment from foster families is ongoing during the coronavirus outbreak.

The UK’s leading fostering charity, The Fostering Network, is using this year’s Foster Care FortnightTM to raise awareness of the extraordinary dedication and work of foster carers at this time, while calling for more people to come forward to foster.

The charity’s campaign to raise the profile of foster carers and the vital role they play in society is the largest of its kind in the UK and runs from 11-24 May.

Foster carers accomplish incredible things every day, even in the face of a global crisis that has affected every one of us and impacted all aspects of our society. Despite the practical and emotional challenges that the coronavirus is bringing, foster carers continue to provide day-to-day support, love and stability to children and young people who can’t live with their birth families. They support children and young people’s education, health, and social wellbeing, and also help to maintain the children’s relationship with the people who are important to them but who they cannot currently see in person.

Every year so many more foster carers are needed to make sure fostered children can live with the right foster carer for them. Despite the coronavirus, this year is no different, so anyone who thinks they might have the skills and experience to become a foster carer is urged to contact their local fostering services.

Kevin Williams, chief executive of The Fostering Network, said: ‘Foster care transforms the lives of children and young people as well as those of the foster carers and their families. This has never been more important. Foster carers help children and young people flourish and fulfil their potential, as well as provide a vital service to our society. Because this happens mainly in the privacy of their own homes – especially at the moment – their contributions too often go unnoticed.

‘Foster Care Fortnight is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the work of foster carers and their families as well as recognising how transformational foster care can be for the children and young people who need it.’

To find out how you can support Foster Care Fortnight go to thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/fcf20.

For information about becoming a foster carer please feel free to make contact with me directly, with our agency F5 Foster Care or visit www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/could-you-foster

 Foster Care Fortnight? is The Fostering Network's annual campaign to raise the profile of fostering and to show how foster care transforms lives. It is also the UK's biggest foster carer recruitment campaign. Foster Care Fortnight 2020 will take place from today (Monday 11) to Sunday 24 May.