Cumbria partners with 80 other local authorities to produce fostering film

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Cumbria has teamed up with 80 other local authorities across the United Kingdom to encourage potential foster carers to open their homes to children in need.

There are currently 765 children in care in the county with just 250 foster carers available.

Authorities are now encouraging more people to come forward given the need for more foster homes.

"We need more families," explained Emily Christmas, Fostering Team Manager at Cumberland Council. "It's really important that children can have a family, somewhere to live, somewhere to go to school from and to make friends while social workers support the parents or the people who they care for to see if there is an option for them to return."

James and Emily Hamilton know more than most about the process having been foster parents for five years. They both encouraged others to become foster parents explaining it was natural to feel nervous about it at first.

There is a shortage of foster carers in Cumbria. Credit: ITV Border

"My husband and I are both secondary school teachers, and I think we saw lots of children who weren't quite in care but needed lots of extra support," Mrs Hamilton explained. "We thought that that was something we could do and it would allow us to make a big difference to a few children's lives.

Mr Hamilton added: "I always knew it was going to be a positive thing to do and it would be great to give opportunities to the children that needed them.

"I think I was always uncertain about how I feel but I suppose you will always be anxious.

"But as soon as we got our first placement. They felt like they were part of the home part of the household and we could instantly see how they fit into our lives."

The couple's daughter Isobel has also enjoyed having other children around, noticing the positive impact her family have had on their lives especially as she gets older.

"It's really nice, especially now, I'm at secondary school," she said. "I can see potentially the impacts as children who haven't been quite been in care but have been close.

"It's been really nice to know that we've been able to provide a baseline for children who would have been in the same situation and that we've supported them into being ready for the next step."

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