Lynda Bellingham helps launch a new Fostering and Adoption service
Barnardo’s Ambassador Lynda Bellingham helped launch the new Barnardo's South West Fostering & Adoption Service in Bristol at the end of January. The service wants to encourage more people to open their doors to children and young people in need of a loving, caring and stable home.
Barnardo's Ambassador Lynda, shared her own experiences of having been adopted as a child. She said:
I was lucky to be placed with supportive and loving parents but I still suffered from very low self-esteem because I felt the need to constantly prove my worth, and it took me many years to build my confidence.
"This is why it is so important for people to receive the right support and advice, and why I chose to become a Barnardo's Ambassador to raise the profile of the charity's fostering and adoption networks.
"People can make a life-long difference to children who might otherwise never experience a happy home. Althought I eventually traced my natural mother, it's my adoptive parents who I still refer to as 'mum and dad'."
The new Barnardo's South West Fostering & Adoption Service is led by Sonya Chowdhury, who has direct experience of the positive difference it can make to adults and children. She is an approved foster carer and has seen how it can transform the lives of everyone involved. Sonya said:
Sadly not everyone has an equal start in life, especially when their own parents have been unable to support them for whatever reason.
"We will try to find loving homes for children of all backgrounds, but there is a particular need for those who wait the longest to find permanent families. These 'hard to place' children include brothers and sisters, older children, children from black and minority ethnic backgrounds and children with disabilities.
"Some people worry about what type of children would be matched with them, but we help to identify the child best suited to their own family. Others only want to offer short spells of care, but there is a high demand for this as well and it might only involve sharing your home for a few weekends a year.
"Whatever people choose, we offer continued support and training throughout the process and for as long as it is needed afterwards. It might be challenging at times, but it is definately hugely rewarding work. People have a genuine chance to transform a child's life, allowing them to achieve their potential."
For more information on the Barnardo's South West Fostering & Adoption Service, visit www.barnardos.org.uk/swfosteringadoption or call 0117 937 5500.