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Flintshire foster carer shares family recipe in new celeb-backed cookbook

Published: 16/05/2024

This Foster Care Fortnight™, Foster Wales Flintshire is calling on people in the area to consider becoming foster carers to support local young people in need.

Recent research by Foster Wales – the national network of local authority fostering services – found people are often put off applying to become a carer because they don’t believe they have the ‘right’ skills and experience.

In their new cookbook – Bring something to the table – Foster Wales highlights the simple things a carer can offer – like the security of a regular meal, family time around the table, and creating new food favourites.

Bring something to the table has over 20 recipes, including recipes from the foster care community, and celebrity chefs.

Our very own Flintshire foster carer Jenny has welcomed over 45 children into her home since she started fostering in 2017 and found cooking with them to be a useful task to help them settle into their new surroundings. 

She was delighted to contribute her Homemade Pizza recipe to the cookbook.

She said: “I make pizzas with the young people that come to stay, kneading dough is very satisfactory and a useful way of letting off steam for stressed young people. They have fun building their own toppings then have something they can enjoy eating whilst watching a film. I find this a very special and enjoyable thing to do with a young person on a Saturday night.”

Every May, Foster Care Fortnight™ - The Fostering Network's annual campaign to raise the profile of fostering and show how foster care transforms lives – hopes to raise awareness of the need for more foster carers.

In Wales, there are more than 7,000 children in care, but only 3,800 foster families.

Foster Wales has set out with the bold aim of recruiting over 800 new foster families by 2026, to provide welcoming homes for local children and young people.

Neil Ayling, Chief Officer for Social Services for Flintshire County Council added: “We are very excited about the launch of the Foster Wales cookbook and it is great to see our own foster carer, Jenny contributing her special recipe and sharing her experience of how cooking together can be a great way of supporting young people.

“We are very fortunate in Flintshire to have such a committed and caring group of foster carers who do fantastic work for children and young people in the heart of our communities. But we need more foster cares to ensure that these children and young people can remain in their local area, close to their friends and families and remain in their school. I would encourage anyone who may be interested in joining our fostering community to contact the Foster Wales Flintshire team.”

The cookbook will be distributed to foster carers across Wales and a digital version can be downloaded from: fosterwales.gov.wales/bringsomethingtothetable

To find out more about becoming a foster carer in Wales visit fosterwales.gov.wales