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A couple from Annalong described as ‘loving, kind, amazing and special people’ by their foster children, have been named Foster Carers of the Year in Northern Ireland.
William and Valerie Newell, were nominated by their two foster children, who say any child would be lucky to live with them.
They were given the accolade from The Fostering Network at Northern Ireland’s 2017 Foster Carer of the Year Awards, on Saturday 13 May at the Hilton Hotel, Belfast.
As English councils warn that social care services for vulnerable children are approaching breaking point in the face of funding shortfalls, Kevin Williams, chief executive of The Fostering Network, said: ‘For some years now we have been highlighting the impact of austerity on foster care and other services for children in care or on the edge of care.
Foster Care Fortnight 2017, Northern Ireland’s largest celebration of fostering, was launched yesterday (Monday 8 May) at an event in the MAC, Belfast by The Fostering Network in partnership with the Regional Adoption and Fostering Service and hosted by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
More than 7,000 new foster families are needed in the coming year to ensure that all children can be found the right foster home first time, according to leading fostering charity The Fostering Network at the start of this year’s Foster Care Fortnight (8-21 May). The need is particularly for families to offer homes to teenagers and groups of brothers and sisters.
More than 7,000 new foster families are needed in the coming year to ensure that all children can be found the right foster home first time, according to leading fostering charity The Fostering Network at the start of this year’s Foster Care Fortnight (8-21 May). The need is particularly for families to offer homes to teenagers and groups of brothers and sisters.
With this in mind, we are asking everybody with an interest in foster care to promote The Fostering Network’s foster carers’ charter to any prospective councillors they meet. Having a charter in place helps foster carers get the recognition they deserve and need to provide children with the best possible care.
These headlines from our sample charter show what a strong and collaborative fostering service looks like. Challenge your local politicians to commit to a fostering service that can offer foster carers:
The Westminster Government has issued a call for evidence for its stocktake of foster care in England.
The stocktake, announced last year, is seeking to understand what currently works well and why, where improvements are needed to achieve better outcomes for fostered children and identify areas where more research is needed.
Following the publication of the Children Commissioner for England’s Stability Index, Melissa Green, director of operations at The Fostering Network, said: ’We welcome this report as it sheds further light on one of the major issues affecting children in care today.
Written, produced and directed by the young champions, the film aims to tackle the stigma surrounding children in care. They presented the film at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 30 March at a reception hosted by Liam McArthur MSP. The audience included foster carers and their families, fostering services, and a number of other MSPs and ministers.
The Fostering Network has teamed up with the BBC to produce a new campaign calling for more foster carers. Narrated by care leaver Hollie, the short film shows how foster care can transform the lives of children and young people. Joseph, also a care leaver, is featured in the film. Now studying for his Masters, he is a shining example of how the right foster carers can change a young person’s life. He told us his story in this blog.
