Hackney’s Children and Families Service understands the true difference fostering can make and so we are supporting Foster Care Fortnight, which runs from 10-23 May 2021.

Opening your home to someone else's child is not for everyone. Treating them with patience and understanding, requires a lot of skill. Caring for each child according to their individual needs takes continuous personal and professional development. This is what our foster carers do everyday.

Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdowns and changes to life have challenged us all, yet our foster carers have demonstrated resilience, commitment and dedication: we could not be more proud of them.

With the support of various professionals within the services, they become part-time, teachers, full-time entertainers, in addition to being caregivers and home makers, all in order to protect the educational, emotional, mental and physical wellbeing of the children in their homes.

Although life feels like it may slowly be returning to normal, the side-effects of the pandemic are still on-going. This changing landscape is providing new challenges within fostering, and still our foster carers keep giving. 

As well as our existing foster carers, I would like to thank everyone that has come forward and responded to Hackney's need for more foster carers. To those that are going through the application process, it may feel challenging at times, but it is worth the outcome. 

In Hackney and across London, there is a continued need for foster carers that can support and nurture the number of teenagers coming into care. I would therefore like to encourage those that have worked with teenagers, that understand the benefits of not giving up on them to consider fostering and speak to a member of our team. 

On behalf of Hackney, again I say thank you to all the foster carers looking after our children and thank you to those that will in the future.