TWENTY two-year-old Kurt Jackson from Worcester went into foster care when he was 16. Lacking in confidence and feeling unable to stand up for himself, he was unhappy living at home with his mum and struggled to get on with her partner.

He eventually plucked up the courage to ring social services from school. His younger sister had already chosen to move out of the family home and he asked to speak to her social worker.

Staff from social services went to the school to talk to him and Kurt was able to move out – spending a short time with his grandad before moving on to respite foster carers.

He then had a placement with a fostering family for about four months and eventually was placed with another fostering family which provided a safe supportive family environment helping Kurt to build his confidence.

Kurt said: “When I lived at home I was quite timid and sky and would not stand up for myself. I realised I was not treated properly at home so I phone social services from school. I just wanted to remove myself from that negative environment. My sister moved out for similar reasons.

“I stayed with the last foster carers for nearly three years. It took a while to adjust to being in foster care and to come out of my shell. I went to the cinema and holidays with them. They pretty much treated me like another member of the family.

“Staying with foster carers was definitely a positive experience. It was certainly good to be in a stable living environment. I think it was the right thing to move out when I did. My mental state improved a lot.”

Kurt moved out of his fostering placement when he was 19 and has been living independently since then and working part-time in a Tesco shop.

He also helps Worcestershire County Council fostering team to recruit and train new carers by speaking about his experiences during preparation training for prospective foster carers and contributing to media campaigns.

And he is about to become a member of the Worcestershire County Fostering Panel which looks at foster care applications and recommends those suitable.

He has also recently linked in with the Bromsgrove-based Rees Foundation which supports care leavers.

Kurt added: “Fostering is about giving people a new lease of life and a second chance.”

Worcestershire County Council is encouraging more people to become foster carers. The West Midlands currently needs 1,000 new foster carers to enable children to be placed in the right environment.

According to national charity The Fostering Network, more than 64,000 children are living with almost 55,000 foster families across the UK. The Fostering Network estimates that a further 9,070 foster families are needed in the next 12 months alone, in order to ensure all fostered children can live with the right family for them.

With record numbers of children in care and more than 12 per cent of the foster carer workforce retiring or leaving every year, The Fostering Network estimates that fostering services across the UK need to recruit at least a further 9,070 foster families in the next 12 months alone.

There is a particular need for foster carers to look after teenagers, disabled children, sibling groups and unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Fostering services work all year around to find and recruit the foster carers they need locally to look after these children.

Without enough foster families willing and able to offer homes to these groups, some children will find themselves living a long way from family, school and friends, being split up from brothers and sisters, or being placed with a foster carer who does not have the ideal skills and experience to meet their specific needs.

Each year the charity runs Foster Care Fortnight (May 16 to 29), which is the UK’s biggest foster care awareness raising campaign. The theme for this year's Foster Care Fortnight is “Time to Foster, Time to Care” and as part of this it is stressing that every 20 minutes a child in the UK comes into care in need of a foster family.

A spokesman for The Fostering Network said: “We are passionate about the difference foster care makes to children and young people. Transforming children’s lives is at the heart of everything we do.”

Foster care facts

• The legal minimum age to become a foster carer is 18, but most fostering services will accept applicants aged 21.

• There is also no official upper age limit on being a foster carer.

• You can have a job outside of the home and still foster.

• Single people can foster as well as married or cohabiting couples.

• There are many gay and lesbian foster carers.

• You do not need to own your own home.

• You don’t have to be a parent to foster

The Fostering network has provided a 10-step guide to fostering

1. Starting point – see thefosteringnetwork.org.uk for more information and to find local fostering services.

2. Choose a fostering service – get in touch with a fostering service to request an information pack.

3. Find out more – attend an information session and meet current foster carers.

4. Make a formal application.

5. Start the assessment – a social worker supports the applicant through the process, carrying out a thorough assessment on them and their household.

6. Attend training – all prospective foster carers complete pre-approval training to prepare them and their household for a career in fostering.

7. Get checked out – background checks are made on all applicants as fostering services need to be sure children will be safe and well cared for.

8. Fostering panel – when all information has been gathered, a report is made to a fostering panel who recommend whether the applicant is suitable to foster.

9. Become a foster carer – the fostering service then makes the final decision about approval.

10. Look after a child – the fostering service matches a child with a new family which could be the next day or in a few weeks.

Anyone interested in more information about fostering in Worcestershire can visit http://www.worcestershirefostering.co.uk/, email fostering@worcestershire.gov.uk, phone 0800 028 2158 or write to Adoption and Fostering Service, Worcestershire County Council, County Hall Campus – Wildwood, Spetchley Road, Worcester, WR5 2NP