Stockport Council is encouraging more residents to consider becoming foster carers.

To go about promoting this, the council is involved in the 'Fostering Unfiltered' campaign, along with all other local authorities across Greater Manchester. 

The aim of the campaign is to inspire and inform those who are new to foster care or who may not have considered it before. 

The council has announced that it is working on a variety of projects designed to boost fostering capacity across the borough, to raise the profile of foster care and its 'vital role in helping local children and young people to thrive'. 

Fostering Unfiltered encourages residents to consider fostering with their local council, arguing that some advantages of this include better training and support, lack of profit incentive, and less upheaval for the child (via the council they often do not have to move so far away). 

Speaking of the campaign, Stockport Council said: "Fostering Unfiltered embraces the realities of fostering with refreshing honesty to show the ins and outs of foster care. It reflects the real lives of existing foster carers by sharing their everyday experiences and challenges."

Stockport foster carer Pam, the face of a Fostering Unfiltered advert, said: "It's not an easy role, but reading the carer stories in this campaign will give you a rounded view of the role, the support you get and the difference you can make.

"We foster because my friend fostered for her local council - she inspired us into it 10 years ago. It's such a rewarding role and it's nice to see local carers' stories come together as part of this site, to bring to life the reality of fostering."

Cllr Wendy Meikle, cabinet member for children, families & education, said: "Stockport is really proud of the Fostering Unfiltered campaign. We've spent time researching fostering to find out more about people's motivations to foster and the barriers people face when making an enquiry.

"Fostering unfiltered minimises these barriers [...]. I cannot overstate the importance of foster carers on the lives of local children. To see so many of our current carers come forward to tell their story as part of the campaign shows the dedicated and passionate community you'd be joining. By giving people greater knowledge and awareness, the campaign will highlight the fantastic role of fostering and help to inspire a new generation of foster carers.

"In Stockport we have a strong support network for our foster carers, many being part of our expanding Mockingbird programme. We want others to join our growing community dedicated to providing safe and loving homes for our children and young people in Stockport."

Find more information on fostering on the Fostering Unfiltered website HERE.

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