Video launched celebrating fostering relationships with Foster with North East
The hub is also launching a powerful new film inspired by this year’s theme, “The Power of Relationships,” showcasing the vital role that meaningful connections play in the lives of foster children and carers alike.
The new film features foster carers Louise and Neil Sanders, their daughter Emily, and their foster children Sheryl (age 17), Michelle (age 15), and David (age 12) and their social worker Mick. The family share their heartfelt experiences of fostering and the various connections they have made on their journey.
Foster with North East was established in September 2023 as the first ever regional fostering recruitment and support hub in England. Launched in partnership with the Department for Education (DfE) the hub was established to tackle the national shortage of foster carers and represents all 12 local authorities across the North East.
Speaking about taking part in the film foster carer Neil said: “It was great to be able to speak about fostering and to reflect on the relationships we’ve built over the years for us as parents, and for the children. It’s big when you start to break it all down, but to us it’s also just everyday life.
“The children are just part of our family – we don’t think of ourselves as having three birth children and three fostered children, we simply just have six children. That’s just the way it is – they are our family.
We know there are a lot of people who have considered fostering but talk themselves out of it because of perceived barriers that, may not actually exist. We hope that by sharing our story in this campaign we can make a difference. If we can encourage more people to find out more about fostering, then we can only be doing a good thing.
Foster with North East are looking for potential foster carers from all walks of life who could offer a safe, loving home for babies, children and young people. Whether Newcastle residents are interested in fostering for weekends, holidays, a few weeks, several months, or even longer, the Foster with North East team can advise on how fostering with their local authority could fit into their lifestyle and how they could become a carer in as little as 4 months.
Reaching the milestone of 100 approved foster applicants feels incredibly significant for us, especially during Foster Care Fortnight.
He added: “As the first ever regional fostering hub, we were pioneers, and it's wonderful to see more hubs joining us across the country in this new collaborative way of working. This milestone is symbolic, and we look forward to welcoming more foster carers in the coming months.
“We are also proud to launch our new film 'The Power of Relationships’ featuring foster carers from the region. We know taking that first step towards fostering can be daunting, so we always aim to show the impact fostering can make on everyone involved. Our hub offer opportunity for residents across the whole of the region to have informal conversations about fostering with their local authority.”
We know there are a lot of questions about fostering ranging from age to marital status, job experiences, and the time commitment required to foster, so I would encourage anyone who would like to find out more to get in touch.
Foster carers are often perceived as being superhuman and whilst they do all have a passion and commitment to care for children, they also come from all walks of life, family set ups and backgrounds.
Foster carer Louise Sanders said: “We don't see ourselves as super parents - we're just like everyone else, sometimes parenting is challenging, and we get things a little wrong, but that's normal life. By the time you have six children you also learn a few tricks along the way.”
Find out more about fostering by calling 0800 917 7771 or at www.fosterwithnortheast.org.uk