News

The Fostering Network is proud to have been awarded the Children and Young People Now ‘Children in Care Award’ for our London Fostering Achievement programme, delivered in partnership with Achievement for All.

The Fostering Network is delighted to today be welcoming HRH The Duchess of Cambridge to the 2015 Fostering Excellence Awards to celebrate the role of the fostering community in providing support to children and young people.

Pandas and penguins at Edinburgh Zoo were joined by around 250 foster carers and fostered children on Sunday 15 November at The Fostering Network Scotland’s Big Day Out.

The event was organised to celebrate the work of foster carers after a successful first 12-months of the Fostering Community Champions project. The day was an opportunity for the fostering community from throughout Scotland to make new connections, learn more about the project and The Fostering Network, and most importantly have some fun.

The Fostering Network Wales has launched a report into the views of foster carers regarding what they believe is needed to raise the ambitions and educational outcomes of the young people in their care.

The report, entitled What is Needed to Enable Looked After Children to Achieve in Education? was commissioned by Welsh Government and follows consultations and a survey with foster carers carried out by The Fostering Network.

In response to the launch of a consultation on Draft Decision Making Guidance for Foster Carers in Scotland, Sara Lurie, director of The Fostering Network in Scotland, said: ‘We are delighted to see the Scottish Government’s draft decision making guidance, and thank all those who have worked so hard in drafting it.

Leading academics, The Fostering Network, and other charities, believe that more can be done to support care experienced young people into higher education after a new report published by Cardiff University has revealed that fewer than ten per cent of care leavers in Wales are accessing higher education.

The Fostering Network Wales will be launching the latest issue of Thrive, the magazine for young people in Wales, at a special event on 11 November.

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge is to present foster care experienced young people with awards at The Fostering Network’s 2015 Fostering Excellence Awards. The awards are being held in London, on Tuesday 17 November.

The Fostering Network in Northern Ireland is bringing a pioneering approach to preventing children who are on the periphery of the care system from being taken into care, and instead supporting them to stay within their own homes.

The Fostering Network welcomes the publication of the Public Accounts Committee’s report into care leavers’ transition to adulthood in England, and in particular their call for the Department of Education to  conduct an early review of Staying Put.

Kevin Williams, chief executive of The Fostering Network, said: ‘We agree with the committee’s findings that, in too many cases, young people are being let down by the system which is supposed to support them.