Foster Care Fortnight shows #WhyWeCare

Published: 10 May 2021

Foster Care Fortnight runs from Monday 10 to Sunday 23 May and this year the theme is #WhyWeCare.

Not only does it celebrate why foster carers want to make a difference to children’s lives by providing them with a safe and loving home, it also highlights why the team at Derby City Council are committed to finding the best outcomes for children in care.

Currently there are more than 600 children in care in Derby who would benefit from a stable, loving and secure home. Changes to many people’s personal circumstances following the COVID pandemic could make fostering an option they’ve not been in a position to consider before.

Foster carers and members of the council’s team involved in fostering have made videos for Foster Care Fortnight to show why they care. One of them has been made by the council’s Strategic Director of People Services, Andy Smith, who grew up in care himself.

In the video Andy says:

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our foster carers for the brilliant job you do looking after Derby’s children in care. I really value and appreciate the support, care and love you give to our children and young people, and the contribution you make to their lives.

Fostering is personally really important to me. My parents were foster carers and I grew up with lots of brothers and sisters being part of my family. I’m also a former child in care who was lucky enough to be adopted by my foster carers when aged ten, and benefitted from the love, security and stability of my parents, so I really do understand the value of fostering and what difference this can make to the lives of children.

2020 was a challenging year, but particularly so for foster carers. Meetings with social workers had to move online, which often fitted in better with family life, especially with foster children learning at home. Carers also took full advantage of virtual training sessions, meaning course participation increased during COVID.

Our Foster Carer Association provides further support to carers, and moved to online coffee mornings throughout the pandemic to keep the community in touch with each other. We also started a mentoring scheme where each newly approved foster carer is matched up with an experienced ‘buddy’ for their first year.

The next virtual fostering event takes place on Tuesday 18 May from 2pm to 3.30pm and you can book yourself on to find out more, with no obligation.

Foster Care Fortnight is led by The Fostering Network, the UK’s leading fostering charity. It’s an 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.

Children, Events, Young people