A couple from Bedford who have devoted 25 years to fostering children, many with physical or learning disabilities, have been made MBEs in the New Year Honours list.
Derek, 69, and Hazel Phillips, 67, have fostered about 25 children since they started in 1988.
Mrs Phillips said they decided to provide permanent foster care until their children become adults.
She praised her friends and family for supporting their work. "We couldn't have done it without them," she said.
'Different life'
The couple were made MBEs for services to children and families...
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Foster children will be able to remain with foster carers following a £40 million injection of funding and a new legal requirement on local authorities to provide support.
All children emerging from the care system will be able to remain with their foster carer families after they turn 18 following a £40 million funding injection and a new legal requirement on councils to provide support, which builds on previous initiatives to strengthen the mechanisms in place for care leavers.
Children’s Minister Edward Timpson announced this week...
Sunday, 10 November 2013
4 November 2013 Last updated at 19:12 GMT
The former Liverpool FC captain Mark Wright has launched a major campaign to recruit 10,000 new foster carers across the country.
Mark and his wife Sue have been fostering for five years, with the pair helping to promote the many rewards of becoming a foster carer.
During a launch at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium, he said the UK 10K scheme "will transform lives"....
Monday, 28 October 2013
24 October 2013 Last updated at 06:23
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Christina Lester met Dame Kelly Holmes at the end of the six-month mentoring scheme
Continue reading the main story
An Armagh teenager who has been in care most of her life is one of 20 children to complete a UK-wide mentoring scheme headed by Dame Kelly Holmes.
Despite her difficult background, Christina Lester has become head girl...
Thursday, 17 October 2013
There is uncertainty over the future of gay adoption in Northern
Ireland, as Chris Buckler reports
A gay couple have said they went to England to adopt because of
confusion over the law in Northern Ireland.
The Court of Appeal ruled that legislation which prevented gay,
lesbian and unmarried couples from adopting children in NI was unlawful. It was the only part of the UK where the policy existed.
However, Stormont's health minister plans to go to the Supreme
Court to try to overturn that decision and get the ban reinstated.
John Davis...
Monday, 9 September 2013
Misconceptions about fostering can deter would-be foster carers from coming forward, suggests a poll.
Myths about foster care are threatening a crisis in the service in the UK, a charity claims.
Some 10% of adults surveyed for Action for Children did not know fostering meant providing temporary care, confusing it with adoption.
And a large proportion believed those aged above 55, gay people, and men were barred from becoming foster carers.
“There is an urgent need to tackle these misconceptions,” said Darren Johnson, of Action for Children.
Figures...
Sunday, 1 September 2013
Fostering Agency Support
All agencies will say their support is brilliant. But in reality what does this mean? Support is about you being given the knowledge to be a skilful and confident carer who provides the best care and enjoys being a foster carer. Suport is about being in touch with you on a regular basis, both by phone and visits to your home to discuss any concerns and for you to be able to get extra support if necessary.
All agencies will claim to deliver 24 hour support, seven days a week, 365 days per year. In extreme...
Thursday, 29 August 2013
Medway’s service for children in care has been rated as inadequate in a report by the education watchdog.
Ofsted’s inspectors said there were 400 looked-after children and 209 with “care-leaver” status when the inspection was carried out in July.
The report highlighted delays in the completion of health assessments and a shortage of nurses. Medway Council said it was making “significant progress” and improvements would continue.
Ofsted inspectors said following a previous inspection in January, work in Medway had focused on ensuring all children...
Sunday, 11 August 2013
Date Published: 01/08/13
Around 340 carers in the Merseyside area will have their allowances backdated after an investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) discovered Liverpool City Council had been underpaying them for years.
The investigation was brought about after a woman, who had been looking after her toddler nephew following a domestic violence incident, complained that the council was not paying her the correct benefits.
She claimed that the council did not consider her nephew a ‘looked after child’. As a result, she missed...
Thursday, 8 August 2013
Fostering Agency Leaflet
The leaflet has been delivered to council housing tenants in Leeds
A fostering organisation has been criticised for encouraging council tenants to avoid paying a spare room subsidy by giving a child a home.
Parallel Parents leaflets which have been delivered in Leeds say “Avoid the bedroom tax. Help change a child’s life. Become a foster carer”.
Carers are exempt from recent benefit cuts for tenants with spare rooms. Parallel Parents said the use of the leaflets was just one recruitment strategy.
‘Truly appalling’
Carole...
Friday, 12 July 2013
Babies need a stable loving home as early as possible, ministers say New-born babies being taken into care should be fostered by people who want to adopt them, the prime minister has said.
David Cameron has said the law in England will be changed to encourage more councils to do this - so more babies can find a loving home earlier. He says it is "shocking" that so many babies taken in to care at one month wait 15 months to be adopted.
The government has pledged to simplify and speed up the adoption process.
It wants babies to be placed with prospective...
Thursday, 20 June 2013
Foster carers decide to change fostering agencies for a variety of reasons. Foster carers who have transferred their approval with our help have told us:
That they had not been properly supported
Their fostering fees and allowances were not competitive
That not enough training or respite had not been offered to them.
Some foster carers told us that they experienced long periods of time without a child placed. As a foster carer, you are free to choose the fostering agency you foster for. We provide a free fostering agency transfer service for...
Saturday, 15 June 2013
A Flintshire couple have been awarded with MBEs in the Queen’s birthday honours list after more than a quarter of a century as foster parents.
During that time Alice and David Oldfield from Shotton have looked after more than 100 children.
The couple, both 75, say they have no intention of giving up fostering “as long as we can move around”. Meanwhile, Martin Walter Shaw, from Anglesey, receives an OBE for services to the National Bee Unit.
Mr Oldfield said the honour came as a “complete surprise” but they were both “very, very pleased”. We didn’t...
Saturday, 1 June 2013
Fostering – The government has unveiled a new package of support to help local authorities attract and retain more foster carers from a wider range of backgrounds.
Speaking at the National Fostering Agency’s annual conference, the Children and Families Minister Edward Timpson announced a new package of support totalling £750,000 which will be used to:
provide Fostering Network with £250,000 over 2 years to boost local recruitment of foster carers and help councils share good practice nationally
provide intervention programmes for looked-after...
Thursday, 30 May 2013
The Fostering Network has kicked off their annual Foster Care Fortnight to highlight the need for 9,000 new foster carers across the UK to meet the need of vulnerable children and young people. Loving homes are always needed to help provide security and stability to some of the most disadvantaged young people.
If you are thinking about becoming a foster carer, Could You Foster? (a page on the Fostering Network's Website) provides information on what fostering is and the type of children that need fostering. You can also find a fostering...
Monday, 27 May 2013
Every day in the UK there are around eight thousand vacancies for new foster carers. This shortfall reduces the chances of finding the most suitable foster carer for each child or young person who need a place of safety. Poorly matched fostering placements suffer more disruption and placement breakdowns. Any increase in foster carer numbers would improve children's chances of successful foster care experience...
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Up to date news and information about fostering children in the UK.
Find out all about fostering, how to apply to become a foster carer, the assessment process, allowances and the support provided.
Use our free 'Foster Carer Enquiry - Fostering Agency Matching Service' to help find the best Fostering Agencies with vacancies where you liv...
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
There are over seven hundred Fostering Agencies accross the UK, it's confusing. Unfortunately, about 15% of foster carers give up fostering or transfer to another fostering agency because the fees and support on offer was not good enough.
I provide a free foster carer support service for people interested in becoming foster carers and earning an allowance working from home. I can help you to save time and costly mistakes by finding the best fostering agencies for you and your family.
There are vacancies for foster carers in your...
