Borough's foster carers hailed at special thank you event

Councillor Rachel Massey, cabinet member for children's services and education and Sharon Hubber, director of children's services, with children's services staff at the thank you event

Twenty two families in the borough, who have devoted a collective 245 years to fostering with the council, were celebrated at a special thank you event.

The event, hosted by Rochdale Borough Council, saw three families celebrated for five years’ service, 15 families for ten years, one for 15 years, two for 20 years and one family had fostered children for over 25 years.

Councillor Rachel Massey, the council’s cabinet member for children’s services and education, said: “Our foster carers do such an amazing, dedicated and selfless job. When I speak with them about why they welcome children into their homes they always say how much they love the role. I am in awe of their tireless commitment to bring so much happiness and hope to the children and young people in the care of the local authority.

“This event was about recognising and thanking our foster carers for everything they do. They are our stars who shine bright in children’s lives. We will support them, as we work together to bring happiness, hope and stability to hundreds of young people’s lives.”

She added: “We are seeing more children come into care. The need has never been greater for people to get in touch with us about becoming a foster carer. The length of time so many of our families have been with us is a real testament to them and the council’s support, you would be joining a very committed service.”

Sharon Hubber, director of children’s services at the council, said: “As always, this was a lovely event which brought people together to celebrate our local foster carers. Their longevity underlines how committed our carers are to local children when they foster with us. We have a very strong working relationship, with robust support and a relational approach to working with families and young people.

“Fostering is an incredibly worthwhile and rewarding role and we are so lucky in our borough to have carers who have such longevity with us. This was underlined at our thank you event, with our wonderful foster carers rightly recognised for everything they do. A huge thanks to them all and let’s continue to work together to make a positive difference to the lives of young people across the borough.”

If you would like to become a foster carer, the council would love to hear from you. You can call the team on 0300 303 1000 or email foster@rochdale.gov.uk.

Information about what fostering involves, the support available and case studies from current carers can be found at rochdale.gov.uk/fostering