Lorraine Pascale on her foster care journey
The only way to happiness is giving back
Celebrity chef Lorraine Pascale reveals why she's supporting a new fostering campaign, after being fostered as a child herself. She's the first UK ambassador for fostering and says that people shouldn't count themselves out and consider doing it - particularly older children. 'Lots of teenagers need loving homes.'
Lorraine was born in East London and was given up for adoption from birth. She spent the first 18 months of her life with foster parents. Due to her personal experience with fostering, Lorraine was made the Government's first fostering Ambassador in 2014.
A lot of foster children are quite withdrawn and it’s about drawing them out. I’m so grateful for foster carers I had in my life.
This year, Fostering Fortnight is raising awareness about the need for carers for teenagers. There are 64,000 children living with almost 55,000 foster families in the UK, and around two-fifths are aged 11 to 15 years.
The Adolescent and Children's Trust, TACT, says there's a misguided perception that teenagers are in care through some fault of their own, such as criminal or anti social behaviour. In reality, there tends to be a variety of reasons - including parental violence and parental illness.