Warwickshire celebrates it's fostering heroes at awards night

The amazing support Warwickshire foster carers give to the county’s children and young people was recognised in a special event earlier this month.  

On Thursday 7 November Warwickshire Fostering hosted a Celebration Evening at the historic Old Shire Hall in Warwick which brought together foster carers, care-experienced young people, and people interested in fostering.  

The celebration included the Foster Carer Awards, an art exhibition and a screening of the short film "Everything," highlighting the power of fostering. It also saw the launch of the mentoring initiative The Sapling Scheme, and the "Hey, We Hear You" project.  

Warwickshire has 264 fostering families who provide loving and stable homes for children in care at a time when they need it the most.  With 740 children in care in Warwickshire more foster carers are needed, a situation that is reflected nationally. The event was an exciting opportunity to showcase all the benefits of fostering with Warwickshire with the hope that those in attendance may take the next step on their fostering journey. 

Warwickshire County Council has a large number of foster carers who stay with the service for many years and was thrilled to be able to give some of their most experienced carers the recognition they deserve at the event. Seventeen long service awards were given out with the most experienced carer clocking up 35 years as a foster carer. Other awards categories included ‘Support for other Foster Carers’, ‘Advocating for a Child’, ‘Working as a Team around the Child’ and the big award of the night ‘Foster Carer’ of the year.  

Foster carers were nominated by their supporting social workers for their magnificent achievements. Foster carer Helen Brown who picked up a 10-year service award and the prize for supporting other foster carers was described by her social worker, Stacey as ‘demonstrating amazing levels of resilience and determination working tirelessly to foster strong relationships; it’s incredible to see the progress the children are making in her care’. 

The event also heard about foster carer Ann who won the award for advocating for the children in her care. Her social worker Jenny described her as ‘a magnet to teenagers’ and someone who ‘coaches, mentors and shows young people what they can achieve’. 

The worthy winners received certificates and a voucher gifted by Pertemps, a ‘friend’ of Child Friendly Warwickshire, presented by Sue Markham, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families at Warwickshire County Council and Councillor Dave Skinner - Mayor of Warwick. 

The art exhibition event was organised by Warwickshire County Council apprentice, and care leaver, Katie Martinez and featured work by care-experienced children and young people aged 2-18 whose art illustrated their journey through care. 

The voices of foster carers were represented within the event through the ‘Hey, we hear you’ project which asked them what they wanted for the children in their care. Foster carer Andrea who has cared for over 100 children addressed the event in an emotional speech in which she spoke of her hopes for the young people she has cared for, wishing them success and a ‘life full of joy and fun and laughter and coping with all thing's life has in store’.  

The evening also offered an exciting chance to hear about the new Sapling mentor scheme, led by Training Manager Lynn Rowlston. Lynn shared that the early days of fostering can be overwhelming, and that matching new applicants with experienced foster carers will offer further support and guidance that aims to alleviate some of these worries. She went on to say that being able to nurture our fostering community alongside a huge range of training is key to the success of Warwickshire foster carers being able to show the stickability needed for a promising fostering journey.  

Cllr Sue Markham, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families at Warwickshire County Council, said: “We were delighted to host this event to celebrate the incredible work of our foster carers. Their dedication and commitment to providing loving homes for children and young people in Warwickshire is truly inspiring. We hope this event has inspired others to consider fostering and make a difference in a child’s life.” 

Warwickshire County Council is committed to supporting foster carers and providing loving homes for children and young people in Warwickshire. For more information on fostering, please visit the Warwickshire Fostering website https://fostering.warwickshire.gov.uk/ or contact the fostering team on 0800 408 1556