Are you ready for a fresh start and a life-changing new challenge in 2024? By becoming a foster carer with Cumbria Fostering you could make a difference which lasts a lifetime.

With 725 children in care across the county, Cumbria Fostering, which works on behalf of Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness Councils, is looking for more people to come forward and join ‘Cumbria’s biggest family’ as a foster carer this year.

As a foster carer with us, you will be part of a community of 275 other carers, with many likely to be living in your local area. As a new foster carer with Cumbria Fostering you will be allocated an experienced carer as a mentor and have your own dedicated support social worker to guide and support you through your assessment, initial training and beyond. You will also receive payments of up to £332 each week for each child you foster.

But the biggest reward for our foster carers is knowing that they are helping to make a difference to children’s lives – it could be improving their attendance at school or seeing them smile for the first time. Helping to make even a small difference to a child’s life is hugely satisfying.

Helen Cole and Dave Elliott, from Carlisle, are long term foster carers for a young man, aged 13. Dave, who used to work for Cumbria’s Fire Service, said the biggest reward is “seeing the fantastic young man he is today, compared to when he first walked through the door”.

His partner Helen agreed: “He’s a totally different young man now. He’s just started Year 8 and he is in the top set for every class. It’s very rewarding and just lovely to see him grow into that kind of young man.”

Kath Lamb, also from Carlisle, is a long term foster carer for three children, alongside husband Graham. She said: “The most rewarding part for me? I think it’s the extended family. We’ve got a sibling group of three with us now, and we’ve got three children of our own who are now adults. They were teenagers when the children came to live with us and for them it was a pretty daunting experience. But I definitely think it moulded them into the adults they are now because they saw children from others backgrounds, other lifestyles.”

Attend an upcoming event

If you have room to spare in your home and a lifestyle that has room for a child, then why not find out whether fostering could fit with what you have to offer?

Throughout January Cumbria Fostering is running a number of events around the county, where you can speak to our friendly team and foster carers and find out more:

• Wednesday 17 January – Come along to our fostering drop in at Costa Coffee in Steelman’s Walk, Workington between 12pm and 1pm
• Thursday 18 January – Fostering drop in for all Cumberland Council Staff at Cumbria House in the Chairman’s Room between 12pm and 2pm
• Monday 22 January – Fostering information stand at Kendal Library, you will find us in the foyer from 12pm to 2pm
• Friday 26 January – Come along to our fostering drop in at Costa Coffee in Angel Square, Penrith between 12pm and 1pm
• Saturday 27 January – Fostering information stand at Carlisle United’s Fanzone at Brunton Park from 12.30pm to 3pm
• Monday 29 January – Fostering drop in for all Cumberland Council Staff at West Cumbria House in Meeting Room 1B in the Annex between 12pm and 2pm
• Wednesday 31 January – Fostering information evening (with short presentation) at the conference room, Barrow AFC So Legal Stadium on Holker Street / Wilkie Road in Barrow. Doors open at 6pm and presentation starts at 6.30pm

Gary and Sarah Moore, from Workington, are Shared Care fosterers who offer short breaks to a child with a disability once a month. Sarah would urge anyone thinking about fostering to get in touch or attend an event. She said: “If you are interested in fostering, if it is in your heart to do it, then pick up the phone, send an email, find out more about it. If you don’t make that initial call, then you’ll never know and you could miss out on a lot and the children you could care for will miss out on a lot.”

Contact Cumbria Fostering today on 0300 013 2065 or register your interest at cumbriafostering.org.uk