Carers praised for vital work with children and young people as part of Foster Care Fortnight.
On Friday evening, Newham Council hosted its annual Foster Carer Awards to acknowledge and thank the amazing people who open their homes and hearts to some of our most vulnerable children and young people.
The award winners come from a range of ages, backgrounds and circumstances but the thing which unites them is their selfless work with our young people.
This year’s Awards come as we mark national Fostering Fortnight which aims to highlight the importance of the dedication and care shown by fosterers.
Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, who attended the ceremony to hand out the awards said: “You give the children you foster the opportunity to maintain links with their local networks, family, friends and communities, and stable foster placements are known to provide the best experience for children in care.
“Providing a family environment where each young person can learn, thrive and develop their full potential is a challenge you have all risen to – so on behalf of the Council, and myself I want to say Thank You!”
Among those honoured was Denise Middleton. Denise, who’s originally from Forest Gate, has been fostering in Newham for an extraordinary 43 years and has cared for over 250 children and young people.
She says she would recommend fostering to anyone; “It’s so rewarding and inspiring for yourself and for the children you care for. You don’t often realise how much you have changed a young person’s life until they leave you, and come they back and tell you ‘you were the best thing that ever happened to me’, it’s wonderful.
“There’s also wonderful support available from the fostering team and of course from all the other foster carers.”
If you’ve been inspired by Denise, or any of our other Award Winning Foster carers, find out whether fostering could be for you.