The New Year nearly always brings thoughts of new beginnings and new challenges, and finding a new job can often be at the top of that list. As a result, the number of British people looking for a new job soars in January compared to the rest of the year, so we are planning a recruitment campaign to coincide with this seasonal trend. Every 20 minutes in the UK a child is taken into care, which means the demand for foster carers continues to grow.

We believe that people often misunderstand fostering and how it actually works, so we are planning to address some of these topics in a video that we are producing. At the end of last month, we were filming with some of our foster carers, some of our team (both fostering and residential), and Nicky Hill – the clinical psychologist that we work with. The result will be aired in the New Year via our website and social media, and the topics we will be covering include:

• What we do here at The Acorns
• Why you should foster with us
• The process of fostering, including the remuneration and rewards offered

Our objective is to give people a clear insight into becoming a foster carer, the challenges they will meet, and the rewards on offer. We’ll explore whether being a foster carer is really a job and how, if you were to become one, you would be financially rewarded for it. We believe that there’s no better way to hear about being a foster carer than directly from our foster carers. After all, they know best.

Fostering is the provision of parental care to a child other than your own. The children for whom we are seeking foster families are in foster care through no fault of their own, but because their parents are unable to provide a safe and stable environment within which they can thrive and flourish. It is intended that foster carers will bridge the gaps for these children, normalise their experience of the world, and encourage them to access all of the opportunities available to their peer group.

Of course, you don’t have to wait until you see the video. If you’d like to foster at The Acorns, providing you are over 21, a full-time resident of the UK (or have leave to remain), and have a spare bedroom, you can take the first step today.