A new film has been launched to help find more foster families for children across Cumbria.
In the short film, foster carers from Barrow share their experience and talk about the difference they make to the lives of local children and young people.
The film also highlights the fact that there are many different types of foster care to suit people’s lifestyles. Respite carers Rod and Lynne White, long-term carer Alex Finnie and short-term carer Diane Pye come from different walks of life but they all share the desire to make a difference for the children in their care.
Diane Pye said: “We’ve been fostering for three years on a short-term basis. You’ve got your own social worker and another carer is your ‘buddy’ or mentor and then you also go to support groups as well and every time you do a training course you meet more foster carers.
“So far we’ve had two children move on and we are very lucky as they do keep in touch with us. One sends us a photo and a little message every Sunday to say what they’ve done that week and it just brightens up your day to hear from them.”
Lynne said: “We started fostering in 2016 and we are respite carers so that means we foster ‘as and when’ needed really.”
Rod added: “It might be day care where we have a child for eight hours while the carer has a hospital visit or we might have a child or children for anything up to a fortnight.”
The couple agree that fostering has been extremely rewarding for them. Lynne said: “The reward for me is knowing you are keeping children safe and giving their full time carers a break.”
Alex is soon to become a mentor to other foster carers. She said: “Nowadays when you are a new carer you are allocated a mentor, who is another experienced carer, and I am actually going to be a mentor now to someone coming into fostering.
“I’m really looking forward to it as there is nothing better when you have a problem than speaking to someone in a similar position. It is a weight off the shoulders and you know no-one is going to judge you.
“I always think with fostering, that if anything happened to me, I’d want someone to love my child as much as I did. Every child deserves that love and is entitled to it; that’s what fostering is.”
To become a foster you must be over 21, have at least one spare room and the time and commitment to support and nurture a child.
To find out more, there are drop-in events across the county this month.
- Thursday 12 October – Fostering information event at the Sandgate Room, Penrith Methodist Church, Wordsworth Street, Penrith, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.
- Friday 20 October – Fostering information stand in the Central Square at The Lanes Shopping Centre in Carlisle, from noon to 2pm.
- Saturday 21 October – Fostering information stand at Barrow AFC fan zone at the Holker Street Stadium in Barrow from 3pm.
- Saturday 28 October – Fostering information stand at the Winter Droving in Penrith town centre from 11am onwards.
