Nottinghamshire foster carer Hayley Peck will be ready to take any questions would-be foster carers want to ask her when she takes part in the county council’s Twitter chat on Thursday, 22nd May.

Hayley has fostered children for the council for the past five years.

People considering fostering are invited to put questions to Hayley on Twitter either before Thursday’s live online chat or between 2.30pm and 3.30pm on the day by using #fosternotts.

Supervising social worker Dawn Clark-Cain, who has worked in the council’s fostering team for the last eight years, will also be available to talk and is inviting questions about her job, the type of advice and support the council can offer foster carers and will also be able to bust some of the myths around who can and can’t foster.

Dawn is one of 48 supervising social workers at the Council who assess and supervise foster households and is working hard to get more foster carers on board.

Service manager for fostering at the council Jayne Austin said: “This is an ideal opportunity to ask an experienced foster carer and supervising social worker at a time when there is a huge need for more foster carers – we need to recruit 50 new foster carers during the course of this financial year to meet demand and make the savings we need to by placing a child with a Council carer rather than with an external provider.”

The number of children in care across the county nearly doubled between 2008 and 2013.

“You can ask Hayley about her decision to foster, how rewarding she finds fostering, what the approval process was like and what tips she has for those starting out or thinking about applying,” added Jayne.

To join in Hayley’s live Twitter chat, follow @nottscc and use the hashtag #fosternotts. People can also tweet your questions ahead of Thursday afternoon.

To find out more about fostering and what support is available for foster carers, call the Council’s recruitment team on 0845 301 8899 or visit www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/fostering