A shortage in foster carers is proving catastrophic for children in the UK.

A combination of factors is aggravating the situation: fewer people putting themselves forward to foster, foster carers leaving the profession and an increase in children and young people coming into foster care.

In East Anglia alone, more than 500 fostering families are immediately needed but of course this does not allow for any increase in demand or any shortfall from carers leaving fostering.

For children in Suffolk, the lack of local carers in areas such as Hadleigh, Ipswich and Felixstowe means they are facing being moved from all that is familiar and important to them.

Hadleigh is a wonderful place to bring up a foster child (Picture: Nub News)

"We urgently need foster carers in Suffolk so that we can provide nurturing homes for local children," says Lucy Stevens, Head of Placements at Eastern Fostering Services who recruit and support foster carers for children in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. "We need a diverse pool of foster carers so that we can match children according to their needs, including the need to stay local. Children need well-thought-out, well-matched fostering families in order to thrive."

Children come into foster care for many reasons, but all will have experienced a degree of loss and trauma.

The needs of children in foster care have changed over the last few years with the impact of Covid and economic challenges starkly visible. But of course, Covid has also affected individuals across society and a sense of uncertainty about the future could be a reason for the drop in people coming forward to foster.

Camilla is a foster carer for Eastern Fostering Services based in East Bergholt.

Camilla Simson (Picture contributed)

An actor by profession, Camilla also owns her own vintage clothing company.

"Foster carers come in all shapes and sizes with all manner of life experience and it is important to have this variety as the children we care for are also diverse individuals," says Camilla. "Deciding to foster has been one of the best decisions of my life. Being able to make a difference to one child is so important especially when you look at the need around you."

Anyone can foster, as long as they are over 21 and have a spare room available for fostering. There is a real need for people to foster sibling groups, teenagers and adolescents, and also a growing need for parent and child fostering.

"Most people have something they can bring to fostering: compassion, kindness, warmth, resilience and a motivation to bring change to the world around them," says Lucy. "Whilst it helps to have experience with children or young people, we offer plenty of training and development to help people grow in confidence in the role."

Fostering can significantly improve outcomes for young people in terms of their emotional and physical well-being, educational attainment and personal relationships. Foster carers are given support, training and a fostering allowance to help them to meet the needs of the children and to enable them to devote time and energy to caring for them.

If you feel you could use your life experience, personal qualities and skills to transform young lives in your local area, please contact Eastern Fostering Services at [email protected] or call them on 01206 299775.