As Foster Care Fortnight gets underway, Pembrokeshire County Council is paying tribute to all its amazing foster carers for the continued care and support that they are providing to children and young people in Pembrokeshire.

Over the next two weeks, the Council will be highlighting the work of its amazing foster carers, celebrating the achievements and contributions of everyone involved in fostering, and showcasing their commitment, passion and dedication.

They will also be extending their heartfelt thanks to foster carers for everything they do to help Pembrokeshire’s most vulnerable children – particularly during this coronavirus pandemic.

The high standards of care and resilience being shown by foster carers is remarkable, and despite feeling concerned themselves about the current situation, they are helping their children to feel safe and secure and finding creative and inventive ways to support and educate them at home.

One young person has been incubating and hatching quails eggs and producing a video diary, while others have been making masks and mobiles, painting murals on garden walls, planting sweet-peas in ‘fairy houses’ and planting vegetables.

Many have created colourful rainbows to cheer everyone up and show support for those working on the front line.

Launching Foster Care Fortnight, Pembrokeshire County Councillor Tessa Hodgson, Cabinet Member for Pembrokeshire Social Services said: “I am delighted to take this opportunity and say a big thank you to all our foster carers in Pembrokeshire for their continued hard work and dedication to the children in their care.

“I speak on behalf of all the managers and staff within Pembrokeshire County Council who recognise the valuable contribution foster carers make in transforming the lives of the children in the County.

“We applaud you all for your services and commitment to children. Our teams are working hard to support children in foster placements and foster carers are doing a magnificent job in meeting their day to day needs. But we urgently need more people to step forward so we can overcome the challenges ahead.

“Foster carers can make such a positive difference in children’s lives and the information we are sharing over the next two weeks on social media will illustrate this and hopefully encourage others to join our fostering community in Pembrokeshire.”

Darren Mutter, Head of Children’s Services, said these are ‘unprecedented circumstances, facing new challenges, both personally and professionally’.

“I cannot express enough my admiration for our foster carers who are continuing to do what they do,” he said. “Not only are they required to be parents, but also in many cases teachers, counsellors and companions.

“I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all for what they do. There is not a day that passes when I do not think of what is being done behind each fostering household front door to keep children safe and happy in this pandemic.”

Pembrokeshire County Council requires new foster families more than it ever has before.

There is additional demand for foster carers to provide safe homes during the pandemic, as pressures and difficulties on vulnerable families increase with each passing week.

We need to be prepared for further increases in demand in the coming months and we need more local foster carers urgently, so that we can keep Pembrokeshire children in Pembrokeshire.

Being a foster carer is not an easy job, but it is extremely rewarding, and really can change a young person’s life. If you think you have the skills and experience to become a foster carer and help support vulnerable children, then please contact Pembrokeshire County Council’s fostering team or follow the Council’s posts on social media and find out more about fostering.

For more information on fostering, please call 01437 774650 or visit www.facebook.com/pembsfostering

Foster Care Fortnight, the Fostering Network’s annual campaign to raise the profile of fostering, runs from May 11 to May 24.