MORE than 345 children and young people in the town are waiting to find foster parents and the council is asking residents if they can ‘do something incredible’ by offering youngsters a home.

Warrington Borough Council has teamed up with 22 other local authorities to back the #youcanfoster campaign which hopes to correct myths about children in foster care and who is eligible to foster.

One woman who fosters in the town said the best part is watching children flourish and helping siblings who might otherwise be separated stay together.

Jenny, 52, said: “As an adult, I knew I had the empathy and understanding to help children who had been through trauma themselves.

“We stuck to our plan, had our three children and began to foster the fourth, with an independent agency. We subsequently adopted her, she’s now 30 with three children of her own!”

Jenny and her husband, Terry, decided to become foster carers again when their children were a bit older.

She said: “After seeing both sides of the coin, fostering for an agency, then transferring to Warrington Borough Council, I can hand on heart say that the support, frequency and choice of placements with the local authority are far greater.

“I have a brilliant working relationship with my supervising social worker, we can have a good chat over a cup of tea, and I always know she’s listening to what I say.

“I feel respected as an equal partner in the team around the child and we all work together to give these little ones the most stable start in life.”

Warrington Borough Council’s executive board member for children’s services, councillor Jean Carter, said the organisation welcomes foster carers from all walks of life whether they are single or married.

She added: “Fostering a child is one of the most rewarding things you can do. It gives you the opportunity to not only change young people’s lives, but to change your own for the better too.”

For more information visit youcanfoster.org.