Hull Fostering

Louise and Laura from Hull Fostering spent time with Young Voices Influencing Care, better known as YVIC, making sure Foster Fest is being shaped by the people who matter most, our children and young people.

Every fairground ride, wellbeing session, performer, activity and quiet space has to feel right for them. That is why meetings like this matter so much. We never want to make assumptions about what children and young people need, we want to listen properly and build things alongside them.

Spending time with YVIC always reminds us what is important. Their honesty, ideas, experiences and courage continue to challenge professionals across Hull to keep improving services and creating better childhood experiences for children and young people in care.

Being a young person is tough enough. Adding social workers, meetings, family changes, uncertainty and the reasons why a child may come into care can make life feel incredibly complicated at times. That is why listening to care experienced young people must never be an afterthought. It has to sit at the heart of everything we do.

YVIC gives children and young people opportunities to speak openly about the things that matter to them and helps shape the services they receive across Hull.

To every young person involved in YVIC, thank you. You are the reason change happens. You keep us focused, grounded and determined to keep making things better for children growing up in care in Hull.

To learn more about Foster Fest and this important catch up with YVIC follow this link; https://hullfostering.co.uk/news/article/91/young-voices-influencing-care

CaringForOurChildrenTogether

Hull Fostering Team Manager Sarah was invited to the Houses of Parliament, joining foster carers and fostering professionals from across the country to reflect on the life changing impact fostering has on children and young people.

Whilst there, she met Julie from The Traitors, who kindly shared her experiences of working in social work and alongside foster carers involved in the Mockingbird programme.

Mockingbird brings foster families together like an extended family network, helping children and carers feel connected, supported and never alone.

Hull is proud to already have two Mockingbird constellations, but we’ve always believed in creating one whole fostering community. That’s why we work so hard to bring our families together through events, activities and shared experiences throughout the year.

And it’s another reminder of why our Tell One Person message matters so much.

Not everyone will foster, but somebody you know might. Many people simply haven’t considered it because nobody has ever mentioned it to them before.

So please, tell one person about fostering.

One conversation could change a child’s life.

Hull took over London this weekend .

Thousands of Hull City supporters travelling down to Wembley, flags out, shirts on, voices loud, and once again showing exactly what Hull is all about.

Seeing our city come together like this, people looking out for each other, travelling together, singing together, proud to stand side by side, it’s the same community spirit we see every single day in fostering.

And wherever Hull goes, Hull Fostering goes too.

While here we bumped into a foster carer from another city and told her about the ‘Tell One Person’ campaign we have in Hull, and she kindly shared why she chose to foster.

A former teacher, she spent years supporting children in the classroom, but knew some children needed more than just support between 8.30am and 3pm.

She became a foster carer because she wanted children to feel safe, settled and truly part of family life.

She told us fostering has completely changed her life, but more importantly, it’s changed the lives of the children she cares for too.

The school runs, the football practice, the bedtime chats, the ordinary everyday moments, they matter more than people realise.

Not everyone can foster.
But everybody knows somebody who could. So we are asking you to back our campaign and

If you’d like to know more about fostering with Hull Fostering, message us privately or visit www.hullfostering.co.uk

Over the last two weeks of Foster Care Fortnight, we have been genuinely overwhelmed by the support shown across Hull and East Yorkshire for our Tell One Person campaign.

Businesses, schools, charities, TV channels and members of the public have all helped us spread the word about fostering, and we are already seeing more people visiting our website, asking questions and reaching out to find out more about becoming a foster carer for Hull.

But in truth, these last two weeks are no different to what Hull Fostering does every single day.

Foster Care Fortnight may give us a national spotlight and a brilliant springboard to start important conversations, but our mission to find enough loving homes for Hull’s children never stops. Neither do we.

Over the coming weeks we already have a family picnic planned for our fostering community, more information stalls across the city, new poster boards being installed and plenty more opportunities to keep these conversations going.

Because despite all of our creative efforts to spread the word about fostering for Hull, we are still desperately short of people coming forward to care for local children and young people.

So if you see an opportunity to help, please do.

🔄 Share one of our posts.
📣 Myth bust on our behalf.
💬 Tell one person about fostering.

Or perhaps even take that first step yourself and look into what fostering could mean for your family and for a child who needs one.

Every conversation matters. Every share matters. Every new foster carer changes a life.

Behind every decision we make at Hull Fostering, there are real foster carers helping to shape it.

Every month, we bring together representatives from our foster carer support groups for our Foster Carer Consultation Group.

This consultation group gives carers the opportunity to speak openly about what is working well, what could be improved, and what they need from us as a service.

We are incredibly lucky to have such a strong mix of voices around the table, including carers who support babies, teenagers, sibling groups, respite care and kinship care, making sure experiences from across our fostering community are heard.

These meetings are always honest, thoughtful and incredibly important. Sometimes the conversations are difficult, sometimes they challenge us, but they help us grow and improve month by month.

Without listening properly to the people living and breathing fostering every single day, we could never build the service our children and carers deserve.

Thank you to every single carer who gives up their time to represent others, share their experiences and help shape the future of fostering in Hull.

We really do listen, and your voices genuinely matter.