Encouraging the people of Ceredigion to become foster carers
This Foster Care Fortnight, Foster Wales Ceredigion is calling on people in the area to consider becoming foster carers to support local young people in need.
Recent research by Foster Wales, the national network of local authority fostering services, found that people are often put off applying to become a carer because they don’t believe they have the ‘right’ skills and experience.
In their new cookbook, Bring something to the table, Foster Wales highlights the simple things, a carer can offer, like the security of a regular meal, family time around the table, and creating new food favourites.
Bring something to the table has over 20 recipes, including recipes from the foster care community and celebrity chefs.
MasterChef winner, Wynne Evans; Young MasterChef Judge, Poppy O’Toole; and cook/author Colleen Ramsey have all contributed recipes. Also featured are Olympic athlete and foster care campaigner, Fatima Whitbread, who was in care herself.
Former Great British Bake-Off contestant Jon Jenkins and comedian Kiri Pritchard McLean also added recipes; drawing on their personal experiences as foster carers.
Care-experienced young people share authentic experiences
To launch the book, Colleen Ramsey, author of Bywyd a Bwyd, Life Through Food, will host a cookery workshop for care-experienced young people to learn a new recipe and vital cooking skills to take into their independent lives in the future.
Care-experienced young people have also been heavily involved in the development of the cookbook.
Sophia Warner, a Welsh illustrator, campaigner, and care-experienced young person, illustrated and wrote the foreword for the cookbook: “When I was younger, I vividly recall grilling my foster mum about the origins of the food she presented, insisting it hailed from Brecon, my beloved childhood stomping ground. I penned ‘Brecon Bolognese’ for the cookbook, based on my foster mum’s recipe. This recipe holds a special place in my heart because it was the first meal I had when I moved into my foster home. I mentioned that my birth mum used to make it and my foster mum lovingly prepared it for me. As I sat around the table with my new foster family, I felt a sense of belonging and warmth, making me feel truly welcome.”
More foster families are needed across Wales
Every May, Foster Care Fortnight, which is The Fostering Network's annual campaign to raise the profile of fostering and show how foster care transforms lives, hopes to raise awareness of the need for more foster carers.
In Wales, there are more than 7,000 children in care, but only 3,800 foster families.
Foster Wales has set out with the bold aim of recruiting over 800 new foster families by 2026, to provide welcoming homes for local children and young people.
Councillor Alun Williams, Deputy Leader of Ceredigion County Council and Cabinet Member responsible for Through Age Wellbeing, said: “The cookbook is a fantastic piece of work that shows the realistic experiences of foster caring and emphasises the everyday skills that are needed to be a foster carer, such as cooking food. I’d like to thank our existing foster carers here in Ceredigion that continue to help children in the local area build better futures. Ceredigion children need local families for all sorts of reasons, from short-term placements to longer-term matches, so if you think you could be a foster carer, get in touch with the team by calling 01545 574000. Help us make a difference in Ceredigion.”
The cookbook will be distributed to foster carers across Wales and a digital version can be downloaded from: https://fosterwales.gov.wales/bringsomethingtothetable/
To find out more about becoming a foster carer, visit www.ceredigion.fosterwales.gov.waleswales or call 01545 574000.