Fostering news

Oldham Council has opened the new year by asking residents to consider moving children out of residential homes and into ordinary family life. The Stepping Forward campaign, launched on 5 January 2026, targets the small but steady group of youngsters who have spent months, sometimes years, in children's homes because no foster place could be found.

Mayor Eddie Moores and his wife Kath, who began fostering at 25, are the public face of the drive. They say the decision gave them 'so many happy memories' and hope their story will persuade others who have never considered fostering to enquire. The council's short film 'Everything', released in November, makes the same point by following local carers through an average week of school runs, teatime rows and bedtime stories.

Behind the appeal sits a sharp rise in demand. The cost-of-living squeeze that began in 2023 has pushed more families into crisis, and the number of Oldham children needing care has climbed steadily. Some respite has come from longer-serving carers: a single mum and her twin daughters marked 51 years between them last summer, and between them they have given weekend or permanent beds to more than 300 children.

To stop newcomers giving up, the council has joined the national Mockingbird programme. Started locally at Cockfields Farm in March 2024, the scheme links six to ten foster households to an experienced 'hub' carer who offers sleepovers, advice and emergency back-up. Sharon and Bev, an Oldham couple who have fostered for 11 years, were highlighted during LGBT+ History Month as proof that the programme welcomes all kinds of families.

There is no fixed target for how many children Stepping Forward should move this year. Social workers simply want empty spare rooms filled before another winter of pressure arrives. The next information evening is expected within weeks, and the assessment process usually takes four months from first enquiry to a child arriving.