A two-year campaign to ensure more children and young people are looked after right up to the age of 25 is continuing with a call for more foster carers and supported lodgings providers to come forward.

Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Transform a Child’s Life campaign encourages residents to get in touch with the fostering team and find out more about the benefits of opening their homes to children and young people in the area.

The council is responsible for finding over 100 placements for children and young people every year, but the figure is steadily increasing with demand having grown by around 40% in the last eight years.

Currently around 50 children and young people are in need of a new family or supported accommodation.

Foster care placements are for babies and children up to 18 years old. Supported lodging placements are for 16-25 year olds and help young adults towards living independently.

Linda has been a family link carer and foster carer in B&NES for nearly 40 years and has spoken of her experience of helping young people to thrive. She said: “The amount of support we provide varies from child to child – for some it might just be an after-school pick-up and tea once a week, for others it could be two or three nights a week. We have a social worker who knows us well and we’ll sit down with her to talk about who might be suitable for us. We’ve had Family Link children on overnight stays here and foster children at the same time, as well as our own three children. Our own children and now our grandchildren all get on well with the children that we have cared for.”

Toni Mayo, Family Placement Team Manager, said: “We are so grateful to everyone who has opened up their home to a child or young person in need in B&NES. We know it is a big decision to make, but we also know the impact it has on the young people and the rewards it brings to the carers. We have amazing carers working with us but, sadly, we always need more as the numbers of young people requiring support increase every year.

“We have a range of options available to people who are thinking about it, so I would encourage people to visit our website to find out more or contact our teams to talk it through. Please help us to transform the lives of these children and young people.”

The council supports placements for babies and young children, teenagers and young adults, children with complex needs requiring short breaks, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, same day crisis placements, siblings, short-term and longer-term placements.

To find out more about the council’s fostering service, visit https://fostering.bathnes.gov.uk/ or call 01225 394949.