Swansea Council is throwing a party to say a special thanks to its fantastic foster carers.
On December 15, the Local Authority’s social services department will be hosting a Christmas buffet to bring together and thank its Foster Swansea carers for their commitment and hard work throughout the year.
The event will be held on December 15 at the Swansea Metropolitan University Townhill campus between noon and 2pm.
There are approximately 400 looked-after children in Swansea, the majority of whom are in foster care.
More than 100 families offer a place in their homes and families. They enable Foster Swansea to offer a range of services such as full-time care, support breaks and 1-2-1 foster care for children with complex needs.
Among those being invited to join in the fostering celebration is Swansea mum and foster mum Tracey Iturbe who fosters youngsters from birth to 10 years.
Though many of the youngsters stay with her and husband Michael short-term, she takes each to her heart when she offers them a place in her home.
Fostering for Tracey was a long held dream but she wanted to wait for her own children to be at an age when she felt they would be best able to cope and benefit from the experience too. When she was made redundant and her own girls were 10 and 12 she decided to go for it and has not looked back since.
She said: “Fostering is everything I thought it was and more. It has meant so much more to all our lives than we ever thought.
“It is an amazing feeling when a child I am caring for smiles at me with one of those smiles which lights up their whole face and shows true happiness after all they may have gone through. It is such a special feeling when you realise that they trust you.
“I want to give them a time in their life when they know they are truly secure and loved which can be the foundation for them moving on to a better future.
“I love fostering. I think it is the best thing in the world. It is so rewarding.
“Christmas will be extra special now that we can celebrate it as a family including the foster children who will be with us and need our love this Christmas.”
Cllr Nick Tregoning, Swansea Council Cabinet Member for Social Services, said: “Swansea owes our foster carers a great debt. The love and compassion that they show the children and young people who share their lives and homes is an inspiration. Fostering can be a challenge but our Foster Swansea carers will tell you that the rewards are huge.
Bringing a measure of stability and happiness into the lives of vulnerable children and young people isn’t always easy but I hope their example will prove a spur for others in Swansea to consider whether their home and family life could be enriched by becoming foster carers too.”
Anyone interested in becoming a foster carer should contact Foster Swansea on 01792 533200 or log on to www.fosterswansea.org
