Action for Children at Balmoral Show

Action for Children discuss the need for foster carers in Northern Ireland and how you can become one.

Transcript

00:00This is Action for Children at the Balmoral Show. Would you like to introduce yourself and tell us what your role is?

00:07My name is Avery Bowser. I'm a fostering services manager with Action for Children.

00:12So I'm responsible for our fostering service across Northern Ireland.

00:15And tell me a bit about the work of Action for Children here in Northern Ireland.

00:19We're one of the UK's largest children's charities and we work with children from 0 to 25,

00:25supporting children, young people and families.

00:28We do a wide range of things. Obviously I do fostering, but we also do a lot of family support,

00:33a lot of work in early years through Sure Start with young carers and with young people who are 16 plus and homeless.

00:41And what's the demand like for foster carers in Northern Ireland at the moment?

00:46Huge. We're at a point where we've got more children in care than we've ever had.

00:51There's currently 4,000 young people, children in care.

00:55We really can't meet the demand for foster placements, so it's really quite urgent to find people in all parts of Northern Ireland.

01:03And what do you need to be or what do you need to have, what do you need to offer to be a foster carer?

01:10There's a couple of basic requirements. You do need to be over 21 and you really need to have a room,

01:14like space in your home for a child to actually have their own bedroom.

01:18But beyond that, we're looking for people who've got the ability to work with children and young people

01:22and care for them and give them time and make space in their lives.

01:26You don't have to have been a parent before, but you need to show us that you can look after children

01:31and you've got the skills to work with children.

01:34And how can people find out more about becoming foster carers? Can they look online or what's the best way to find out?

01:40Yeah, you can look online at actionforchildren.org.uk and you look under fostering, you'll find us.

01:46You'll also find us on Facebook, which is another way to find out information about us.