News May 2006
Fostering Fortnight Fun Day
Children’s champions challenge
Super mum Rubena has fostered more than 100 children in Hackney. But can you guess how many children four Rubenas have fostered?
That’s the question Hackney Council will be asking local people when it launches its free competition to promote fostering on Monday 8 May. Featuring four foster mums who foster Hackney children the competition will challenge people to guess exactly how many children the four have fostered in total. Anyone guessing the right total will go into the hat to win £50 worth of vouchers.
The aim of the competition is to encourage local people to think about foster care and to celebrate the remarkable contributions Hackney foster carers make to the lives of children in care. The competition has been timed to coincide with the national Fostering Fortnight campaign which runs from Monday 8 to Sunday 21 May. The competition will feature on the Council’s website (www.hackney.gov.uk) and in the Council’s paper Hackney Today.
The Council wants everyone who enters the competition to be a winner though, and it will send entrants a letter thanking them for taking part and a leaflet about how they could still be a winner – by fostering a Hackney child.
Hackney is not stopping there either. It is holding a Fun Day for Fostering on Wednesday 10 May outside Hackney Town Hall where people can enter the competition, find out more about fostering and adoption, enjoy face painting and music from Choice FM.
Super mum Rubena said: “I’m delighted to be promoting fostering in Hackney. I’ve looked after more than 100 foster children since I started 10 years ago, sometimes for just a night but often for months and years. It’s not always been easy but it’s been a most rewarding experience, and a privilege.”
Hackney’s Corporate Director for Children’s Services, Alan Wood, said: “There are some super-human foster carers in Hackney and it’s great that we’re celebrating the dedication and commitment of some of them through this competition. I hope that their example inspires other people to think about fostering.”
There are 160 foster carers in Hackney and 356 children in foster care. The Council is currently looking for more white foster carers.
To enter the competition, send your guess with your name and address to Children’s Champions Competition, Fostering and Adoption Service, Hackney Council, Room 313, Adoption and Fostering Unit, 205 Morning Lane, London E9 6JX.
The winning entry will be picked out of the hat on Tuesday 23 May.
Case Study
Cedra Jarvis has been fostering Hackney children for more than 10 years. In that time she has cared for close to 100 children. More than 90, she says, but she may have lost count.
“I was always used to looking after children. I come from Trinidad and Tobago originally and it was common for us to look after family and friend’s children, so it was part of my culture,” she says.
Cedra has looked after children from every sort of background, including disabled children and young asylum seekers from Albania and Eritrea. So what makes her do it?
“It was like a hobby for me – and I had good care when I as a child so I felt I could do the same for another child.”
When she went to find out about fostering in the UK, she was surprised to find you received financial help: “I thought it was voluntary,” she adds with a laugh.
Cedra was working as a teacher at the time so she took in teenagers, and as time went on she often looked after two or three children at a time, mainly boys.
Cedra now offers advice to people thinking about becoming a foster carer and points out that many carers go on to gain qualifications - Hackney Council funds carers to gain NVQs in child care. She is also thinking about applying to become a therapeutic foster carer – working with some of the most challenging children in care.
She says a lot more people can foster than you would think. There’s a rigorous process of course in Hackney but Cedra says: “Anyone with room in their home and room in their heart can foster. It’s not for everyone but if you feel able and you have room.”
Hackney has 160 foster carers but is always looking for more. Currently more white foster carers are needed. If you can’t make the event but want to find out more about fostering, call 08000 730 418.
Page updated: 28 Feb 2007