A region-wide recruitment campaign will highlight the need for more than 700 new local authority fostering households, and invite local people to do something incredible.



Blackpool Council is one of 23 local authorities backing the #youcanfoster campaign which aims to address the North West’s fostering goals.

Local authority professionals behind the campaign want to dispel some of the out-dated misconceptions about children in foster care as well as those around who is eligible to foster - and attract more people to step forward and find out more.

Across England around 52,000 children and young people are in foster placements, 9,000 of them in the North West. Around 3,400 families foster for their local authority.

Securing a stable home environment for foster children is vital if they are to have the best chances in life and realise their ambitions. The campaign launched this week is aimed at replacing foster carers leaving due to retirement and natural turnover, combined with an increase in the numbers of looked after children.

Cllr Graham Cain, Cabinet Secretary for Blackpool Council, said: “Fostering makes an enormous contribution to society and can help make places and communities better.

“Our foster carers do an amazing job but we are always on the lookout for more people with room in their homes and in their hearts to become a fostering hero too.

“Our friendly staff are always on hand to discuss fostering and how it works and will be more than happy to give people information if they are thinking of getting involved.”

Charlotte Ramsden, a Strategic Director of Children and Adults Services representing You Can Foster said: “In the UK as whole and even just the North West, we have thousands of children who need foster care and we need more carers to provide the support and stable homes that these young people need to really thrive.

“People have a lot of preconceived ideas about why they might be ruled out as foster carers but the only thing that matters is the support you can offer the child. Whether you are older, single or never had children, you can foster.

“Foster carers don’t need superpowers, they just need to be able to provide a solid and reliable foundation for children and young people to find theirs.”

She added: “If you are interested in fostering then your local authority is the best place to find out more. More people turn to their local authorities than any other fostering provider. Foster carers across the North West are benefiting from the support and training they provide.”

For more information on fostering visit http://youcanfoster.org/