ACOUPLE of years ago Ceressa Bateman visited this newspaper on work experience. She sat at a desk in the newsroom and watched the bustle and grind, occasional excitement and variable language, which is the lot of producing a daily publication.

Then she went away and set up her own national magazine.

Not many people do that, in fact I can’t think of anyone who has done that. So it shows that behind her quiet-as-a-mouse exterior, this lady has drive.

She’s still quiet, almost apologetic, but when Ceressa looks at the first edition of Foster Families she has the satisfaction of knowing she has written every word, garnered every advert and taken some of the pictures, too, in the colourful 48-page lifestyle magagazine. Not bad going by any standards and she hopes she’s found a niche market in an OK/Hello sort of way.

Ceressa said: “I wanted to produce something that wasn’t too technical or inward looking. I know a few people who foster and discovered from what they said there was a lack of easy-reading, lifestyle magazines aimed at foster carers.

“I wanted to come up with something a bit glossy and lighter to read, while still being informative.”

Her “I know a few people who foster” is not quite telling the whole story.

Ceressa’s grandparents fostered, so does her sister, so she is used to being in households with foster children. That’s almost certainly why she chose the subject for her first foray into publishing.

“From personal experience I knew there was a gap in the market, so I decided to go for it,”

she added.

Ceressa, who is now 25 and lives in Barbourne, Worcester, went to Bishop Perowne High School and then Worcester Sixth Form College, before taking some time out. She said: “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, although I had always been interested in writing.”

So she took herself off on a threeyear gap – one of which was spent in Uganda working with children – before coming back to the UK and enrolling on a National Council for the Training of Journalists course at Sunderland University. It was during this spell that Ceressa did her work experience with the Worcester News.

Did we put her off that much?

She said: “I didn’t really fancy being a news reporter. I much prefer feature writing. I’d rather work on a magazine.”

Which was why she decided to produce her own.

The whole project has taken her about six months from first steps to first edition hiiting the streets. It’s free, by the way. The costs are covered by advertising – almost.

Each issue will be packed with a variety of news, views and features on a range of issues affecting looked-after children and their foster carers. Ceressa intends the quarterly magazine to cross the two genres of parenting magazines and the more informative care magazines. As a parenting magazine it has features on family life, with ‘how-to’ and question sections, specifically aimed at parents who foster.

Ceressa said: “I felt it was time for foster carers to get a magazine aimed directly at them. They have such different roles to play from other parents and go through very different things.

“I felt they deserved a magazine that focused on the aspects of parenting they deal with. It seeks to reach foster carers where they are, offering advice and being a friend they can turn to.

“As a friend, we have some fun, we share stories, we give advice.

With more than 50,000 children living in foster homes across the UK we believe that foster carers should get all the support they can for the hard work that they do.”

Unlike other parenting magazines, Foster Families is aimed directly at foster carers, with each section focusing on their needs and providing relevant fostering information. Sections such as home, food and health focus on fostering, while offering some light reading.

Ceressa said: “It encourages readers in their role and offers reallife stories of other foster carers in similar situations. The views of both children and foster parents are important and the magazine reminds foster carers that they are not alone in their struggles. Other people go through similar experiences and support groups are available.”

Foster Families is being distributed to foster carers throughout the UK through independent fostering agencies and local council fostering departments.

The first edition print run of 6,000 has already been fully allocated and Ceressa hopes for an eventual circulation of about 10,000 in England, Scotland and Wales.

From work experience to editor in one fell swoop. Not bad.