N I R E E R A C A E R A C R E T S FO Are you at a time in your life when you feel you have the time and space to give something back and make a positive difference? Could it be the year when you open your heart and home to a foster child with Child Action Northwest (CANW)?
Could you foster with CANW? If we’ve made you consider fostering but you might be doubting your suitability, let us tell you there’s no such thing as an ideal foster carer.
Let us tell you about CANW...
It isn’t about whether you’re married, single, lesbian, gay, heterosexual, divorced or co-habiting. It isn’t about your race or religious beliefs. Our carers come from all walks of life, careers and backgrounds.
Our team of foster carers provide a safe and secure place for children to live when they’re unable to live with their birth families.
You don’t need specific skills to become a foster carer – your life experiences, parenting skills, values and interest in young people are just as important.
CANW’s long and well-respected history of providing accommodation for vulnerable children spans more than a century after we started life as Blackburn Orphanage.
Similarly, there’s no such thing as a typical foster child – they come from lots of different backgrounds. Teenagers, children with disabilities and large sibling groups are very often those most in need of a caring, supportive environment to live in.
Our fostering service has been running since 2001 and we’re often told by staff and carers alike that it’s like a family itself, a community of like minded people. Foster carers with CANW are offered support at every stage of their journey, including financial and practical support, activities and support programmes for children, to ensure they can achieve their full potential. We also provide training to encourage foster carers to develop and become the best possible carer they can be, while the guidance of a clinical psychologist ensures the emotional, health and wellbeing needs of both children and carers are met.
Giving something back We take great pride in providing a family feel to our fostering service and when we spoke to foster carers Mat and Lynn, they said: “The young person living with us at the moment said it doesn’t feel like they’re being fostered. To hear that confirms to us that we’ve made the right decision and made a positive impact on their life when they needed it most.” The needs of the child and the fostering family are at the centre of everything we do at CANW, and we do all we can to help them and their foster family achieve their full potential.
55% of CANW foster carers are aged 50 plus.
Some may have had a difficult upbringing, but all are looking for a foster carer with flexibility, a good sense of humour and the patience and strength to help them build and understand family relationships from the ground up.
Are you ready to be a lifeline for a young person in need? Please give us a call on
0800 634 5300 – our team will be happy to help and tell you more or visit our website and take a look at our FAQs:
www.canw.org.uk/faq
