This Foster Care Fortnight foster carers for Bolton Council are appealing for people living in the area to take the first step and enquire about becoming a foster carer with their local authority.
There are currently 385 children and young people from Bolton living in foster care placements and 175 fostering households in the borough.
Clare Jones and her husband have been fostering for two years: “The most rewarding part of fostering is seeing the change in the children. It can be challenging having to try and split myself to enable contact with two families but we get support from the support group I attend and fostering friends I have made along the way.
"The best thing about being a foster carer is seeing a big change in the children and helping them to reach their potential. If someone is considering fostering I’d say do it, apply for the prep course and make your decision during the process.”
Cabinet Member for Education, Schools, Safeguarding and Looked after Children, Cllr Ann Cunliffe, said;
“We are extremely grateful to all our foster carers who do a fantastic job dedicating their time to improving the lives of the children and young people they care for.
"It is important to us to be able to find the right placements when children come into care and as foster carers retire or move on we are always in need of more people coming forward to make an enquiry. We understand that taking that first step can feel like a big decision but our staff are on hand to answer your questions and help you understand if fostering is right for you and your family.”
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 2018 takes place from 14 to 27 May.