Foster carers make an amazing contribution to helping and supporting vulnerable children and young people through a difficult time in their lives, but what support do foster carers receive themselves?

Speaking during this year’s Foster Care Fortnight (12th–25th May) Nottinghamshire County Council’s lead for children’s social care Coun Kate Foale said: “We need to recruit 25 extra foster carers every year to reduce our reliance on expensive external providers and meet the increasing demand on our services as children continue coming into care.

“However, it’s not just the children in care who need our help – foster carers also need support to ensure they’re in a position to offer children and young people a loving, stable home. Fostering is a big commitment and we’re under no illusions that looking after a vulnerable child is a walk in the park.

“So it is important that people considering fostering know that we offer them a great package of support and training to enable them to provide a high standard of care to the children they look after and also to enable them to develop new skills.”

The council’s fostering support networks, staff and offices are all local, which sets it apart from most external fostering providers which are moving towards a more regional approach.

All 400 of the council’s fostering households, including short break foster carers and family and friends foster carers, have their own supervising social worker who supports and supervises the fostering household.

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 go to www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/fostering