Dedicated carers who have opened their homes and hearts to children to provide stability, love and support when it is needed most have been honoured at special events across North Yorkshire as part of Foster Care Fortnight.
Across the celebrations, 33 long service awards were presented to North Yorkshire Council’s foster parents, including both individuals and couples, representing an impressive 380 years of collective fostering experience.
The celebrations included a series of afternoon cream teas held across the county giving foster carers the chance to come together, relax and be recognised for their hard work and dedication.
Carers from North Yorkshire’s Mockingbird hubs also gathered and were thanked for their commitment to the innovative fostering model. Mockingbird creates a network of support around fostering families, helping them feel connected, resilient and part of a wider community.
Fostering North Yorkshire, which is part of North Yorkshire Council, joined the Fostering Network’s Mockingbird Family Model Programme, along with 22 other fostering services around the country in 2019, to empower families to support each other.
There are currently four hubs in North Yorkshire (two in Scarborough, one in Selby and one near Thirsk). A fifth constellation is planned for later this year, also based in Scarborough.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for children and families, Cllr Janet Sanderson, said:
Foster Care Fortnight is a chance for us to shine a light on the remarkable people who foster.
Their time, commitment and the love they share changes lives every single day. To see 380 years of combined fostering experience in one room is truly inspiring. We are incredibly grateful for everything they do.
Foster Care Fortnight runs until Sunday (May 24), and this year’s theme is ‘This is Fostering’. It shines a light on the everyday realities of fostering, raising awareness of the profound impact foster carers have on children’s lives, and celebrates the skills, commitment and love they show.
The council’s member champion for young people, Cllr Alyson Baker, said: “Our foster families provide safe, nurturing homes for children who need them, and these events are a small way of showing our appreciation. Whether they have been fostering for one year or 30, every carer plays a vital role in helping children thrive.”
Meanwhile, among those also attending the events was foster carer Andrew Clarkson.
The Selby resident said:
Something you might not realise about fostering is just how quickly it becomes normal, how quickly it just becomes how you live.
It’s very, very easy to talk about fostering as some kind of extreme behaviour that sounds so far outside of the norm, but actually what’s happening is something that humanity has been doing since forever.
Another foster carer, Ryan McDowell, from Scarborough, said:
If you’re thinking about fostering, just go for it. Speak to people who you might know who are foster parents, because they’ll tell you the honest truth.
And if anything, go and visit the website and you can find out further information.
Fostering is open to those who are single, couples, those with or without children, renters and homeowners of all backgrounds. In September last year there were homes being provided for 448 children in North Yorkshire and there is an urgent need for more local foster families to come forward.
Cllr Sanderson added:
We always need local people to provide safe, loving homes to children and young people who cannot live with their birth families.
