Campaign to find families to foster 1,200 kids in care
Nicola, Matt and Amelie ‘love every minute’ of foster caring
A STAFFORDSHIRE Moorlands family have backed a new campaign to bust myths on fostering.
‘No Myths, No Ifs, No Buts’ is the latest campaign to help find foster families for some of the county’s most vulnerable children. It is being led by Staffordshire foster carers and aims to find families for the 1,200 children now in the county council’s care.
As part of the month-long campaign, the team have set out to help bust some of the commonly held myths putting people off fostering.
Some of the most commonly held myths around fostering are that, you need to be married, you need lots of experience and skills, you can’t have any animals and you need a big house, none of which are true.
As part of the campaign, a coffee morning and information event with current foster carers will take place in Leek on Friday, September 20, 10amnoon, at Costa Coffee in Market Place.
Staffordshire Moorlands foster family Nicola and Matt Bradley, along with seven-year-old daughter Amelia, specialise in fostering sibling groups.
They said: “We’ve been fostering for six years now and have loved every minute of it. I think it’s important that siblings stay together and it’s fabulous to watch them grow up together.
“Fostering is something that will change your life and if you are thinking about it then I would encourage you to get in touch and take that first step.”
Mark Sutton, cabinet member for children and young people at Staffordshire County Council, said: “With children back in school for the new term and teenagers flying the nest and off to university, it can be a good time to think about doing something different and that could mean being a foster carer.
“Our foster carers regularly tell us that fostering is an amazing thing to do but we know there are still lots of myths out there putting people off. For example, people think you need to be married, own your own home and you can’t own a pet, all of which are false.
“That’s why we’re busting those popular myths and trying to encourage more families to come forward.
“We know that fostering gives most children the best chance of a happy life, so it’s vital we have local foster carers to give them that opportunity.
“We’ll be busting a myth each day on social media, and you can help us to spread the word by liking and sharing our posts.
“And, if you’ve already thought about fostering before then coming along to one of our informal information events is a great way of taking that first step.”
For information about fostering with Staffordshire County Council visit www. care4child.org/fostering