Recently I met with Sara Fernandez from an organisation called Now Foster, who are working with Newham to encourage more people to become foster carers. Quite apart from being very friendly and entertaining, she spoke so persuasively about needing to recruit a wider range of people, about how Forest Gate might be a place where there is some untapped potential, and how many carers are needed.

She made a point that really stuck with me: over a thousand households in Newham had volunteered to host Ukrainian families as part of the government scheme. These people were obviously socially motivated to help, and had space in their homes – could they perhaps consider being foster carers? This compares very starkly with the very small number of new foster carers who were recruited last year, perhaps because lots of people don’t consider themselves to be ‘right’ for fostering, or perhaps because it just doesn’t occur to them.

I always think of fostering as being very all-encompassing and long term, so was really interested to read about the different types of of fostering, including family breaks which can be quite short periods. Sara said it’s a myth that you have to be not working, or that people who already have families cannot foster. In fact, she said that families with young children may find they are a good fit for an older teenager, and conversely families with teenagers could be a great foster home for a younger child. She is also very keen to recruit more LGBTQ+ foster carers.

Sara and others have been door knocking and will be coming along to some of our lovely summer community events in Forest Gate to meet people and talk to us about fostering and how to get involved.

They are also holding a Fostering Pizza evening with our good friends at Tracks, where you can come along in an informal environment, have a slice of pizza and talk through any questions you have. If there is even a small question mark in your mind as to whether you might be able to foster, do come along. All the information is on this link here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/forest-gate-fostering-pizza-and-info-session-tickets-657429839347

The team at Now Foster is working with Newham Council to raise awareness of fostering and find fantastic foster families in our community.

You can find out more about what fostering offers on the website http://www.nowfoster.org

You can meet Sara for coffee (virtually or in a cafe in Newham) for an informal chat and to explore whether this is something you may want to do in the future.

Email: sara@nowfoster.org