27/05/11
Plymouth Sisters urge the community to “put a smile on a child’s face this Foster Care Fortnight”
Janet Burt, 43, a former security guard, has been fostering with independent fostering agency Pathway Care for 2 years with support of her husband Mike and 15 year old son Liam. Since then, she has provided care for four long term placements, one respite care child, and is currently looking after a 12 year old James* (name has been changed to protect his identity).
Janet started fostering after gaining first-hand experience of working with children from troubled backgrounds during her time as a security guard. Since then she has been urging others to consider fostering; starting with her sister Karen.
Karen, 46, along with her husband David Reed and two daughters, Emma 21 and Jade 18, started the process just over six months ago after Karen took a year sabbatical from her job at a local supermarket.
The family are currently fostering their first child, after around four months of assessment and training with Pathway Care.
Karen commented on her experience to date: “Seeing the difference my sister has made to the lives of the children she looks after is inspiring. With one of my daughters recently flying the nest, I had the space, and the care, to do the same.
“I understand fostering isn’t for everyone, which is why I decided to take a sabbatical, but after only six months I’m sure I want to continue fostering. Having my sister around the corner to offer advice and support is brilliant; we often have days out and our foster boys play together. As well as that, Pathway Care offers lots of networking events for foster carers and children which we take the whole family to. They’re always on the other end of the phone if we need them, so we don’t ever feel like we’re going it alone.”
Janet comments on the rewards of foster caring, “It is a challenging role but it’s not without its rewards. By far the most rewarding aspect for me, is to see a child come to me with little or no self-esteem, and then see them flourish and make friends with other children. It takes time and doesn’t happen overnight but with patience, love and a want to help these children, you will be amazed at the transformation and the progress the child makes.
“Being family orientated can help; we do lots of activities together, like sailing, fishing, swimming and karate. Being flexible is really important and we’re always keen to try out new activities so if our foster child wants to try something we all give it a go as a family.
“Although I really wouldn’t say you need to have children of your own to be a good foster carer, rules and boundaries are a good starting point. If you do have a family like myself, it is important to make sure that you have all talked it through and are happy to do it together as a unit.”
Martin Leitch, Pathway Care’s south west regional director, said: “Foster Care Fortnight is a vital reminder that many children and young people in care are missing out on family life and the support and care that so many of us take for granted.
“So many children and young people are in care through no fault of their own. They’re pigeon-holed as troublesome or problematic, but so often they’ve had a very difficult start to life, they’re usually very scared and lacking in self-belief. This is where carers like Janet and Karen can make a real difference.”
With over 600 vulnerable children and young people in the region needing foster care support, Janet and Karen are now hoping others will consider fostering and help make a difference to a vulnerable child’s life.
A career in foster care offers many benefits, including competitive rates of pay and flexible working. For more information about fostering contact Pathway Care on 0871 226 3760; or visit the website at www.pathwaycare.com
For further information on this press release, please contact Working Word and ask to speak to a PR consultant.
Working Word is a full service communications and PR/public relations company based in Cardiff which represents a number of public sector and business clients. Working Word provides public relations consultancy for fast growing companies in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Bristol along the M4 corridor of England and across south Wales.
Our public relations and communications services are provided from our central Cardiff office in Southgate House, located adjacent to Trinity Mirror’s Media Wales news headquarters. Conveniently located near to Cardiff Bay and Cardiff city centre, our offices are available for client use when required. We are home to the largest operational PR team in Wales and are the current - and second-time - holders of the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) ‘Outstanding PR Consultancy in Wales’ award.
Our in-house graphic designer enables us to offer graphic design, website design, advertising, branding and marketing solutions.
Our social media consultancy division has helped clients scoop awards for their ground-breaking efforts in harnessing digital media to communicate with their audiences online. We also provide search engine optimisation services to ensure our clients achieve the SEO results they need using organic search keyword strategies. The best thing is, we provide all of these services as a seamless, integrated communications package with one point of contact. We get to know you, then make sure your audiences get to know you better.
Please contact our Cardiff public relations office for more information on PR campaigns.
