Mayor Dave - Foster Care Changes Futures for the Better

It's Foster Care Fortnight 2019 across the UK, and Mayor Dave Hodgson and Bedford Borough Council are issuing a call for more foster families in Bedford Borough.

According to The Fostering Network, the UK's leading fostering charity which runs Foster Care Fortnight, over 8,000 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. In Bedford there is a particular need for those people who might be able to care for children over the age of 8, sibling groups and those who can look after children on a long term basis until they reach adulthood.

Foster carers who choose to foster children in Bedford Borough, say how well the Council has supported them to develop and evolve their current skills and knowledge in order to give a home to children who cannot live with their birth family.

You can read more here about Bedford Borough foster carers who transitioned from short term care to long term care and provided a stable home which has transformed the life of an 7 year old who needed a home through to adulthood.

Mayor Dave Hodgson 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.

"We believe that foster care changes futures - the futures of fostered children and young people and the futures of the foster families who care for them."

If you have a spare bedroom and think that you are able to offer the care and attention that a foster child will need you can contact Bedford Borough Council's fostering service on 01234 718718 or visit www.foster4us.com. Bedford Borough foster carers receive excellent training and support all the time as well as a fee and allowances when they are looking after someone.

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."