Awards honour the Borough's foster carers and supported lodgings hosts of looked after children

The outstanding contributions of foster carers and host families who care for children and young people in Stockton-on-Tees were recognised at a special awards ceremony held by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council on Thursday (30 April).

The Foster Carer and Supported Lodgings Awards shine a light on the achievements, resilience and outstanding care of people across the Borough who look after children and young people.

Councillor Clare Besford, who is the Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Young People and presented the Long Service and Special Milestone Awards, said: "I'm immensely proud to celebrate our wonderful foster carers and supported lodgings hosts in our Borough with these awards. It was an honour to celebrate their long and devoted service and hear about the outstanding achievements which they have made in the lives of children and young people in their care. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees."

The awards celebrated care givers in the following categories:

Long Service and Special Milestone awards

Special Milestone awards were handed to carers and hosts who have reached their milestone one, five, 10, 15 and 20 years of service while the long service awards were presented to carers for over 30 years of service, including Margaret Wren (49 years), Malcolm and Shelley Atherton (33 years) and Patricia and Kenny Leishman (32 years).  

Young People's Choice Award - Sue and Stuart Reid

With nominations submitted by children living with a foster family, Sue and Stuart Reid were awarded the Young People's Choice Award for the incredible support they provide the young person that is in their care.

This category celebrates the wonderful work that our foster carers do, and the nominations are made from the young people - a highlight of the night as they share their videos.

Peer‑to‑Peer Recognition Award - Julie and Paul Snowball

After receiving nominations from different foster families who have particularly valued the support of their peers, the Peer-to-Peer Recognition Award was presented to Julie and Paul Snowball.

They play a significant role in the Mockingbird fostering service, which is led by The Fostering Network in the UK, and delivers an extended family-based model of foster care that creates a supportive community of foster families to improve stability and outcomes for children.

Julie said: "As I said on the night to the people who nominated me, it means the world to me but you are only as good as the people that you are surrounded by, and I'm surrounded by wonderful people, so it's an honour for me to support them and I thoroughly enjoy doing it."

Supported Lodgings Host of the Year Award - Hazel and Wayne Micallef

Hazel and Wayne Micallef received three separate nominations and are deserving winners of the Supported Lodgings Host of the Year Award.

As supported lodgings hosts, they provide a home for teenagers as a stepping stone to independence along with unwavering support for creating a safe, friendly and loving home. They are currently caring for two teenagers, providing practical and emotional support as they transition into adulthood.

Kinship Carer of the Year Award - Pauline and Colin Poppleton

Nominated by their grandchildren's social worker, Pauline and Colin Poppleton were recognised with the Kinship Carer of the Year Award for their caring nature and understanding of the lives of the children in their care.

The emotional warmth and security they provide, along with their dedication to maintaining family identity, has ensured the children in their care are making excellent progress.

Foster Carer of the Year Award - Wendy Fowler

With five nominations from young people and professionals, Wendy Fowler received the Foster Carer of the Year Award with over 21 years' experience in building positive relationships with young people, allowing them to feel safe, supported and a sense of belonging in her home.

Thanks to her exceptional support, the overall welfare and emotional wellbeing of children and young people in her care has left an immensely lifelong positive impact.

Wendy said: "I was very surprised and quite emotional. From a personal level, it's a great achievement for me, fostering is the best thing I've ever done in my life. I was very upset when I decided that I needed to retire, it took me a long time to think about it, but I thought the time was right because I hadn't been very well last year. Now is the time to retire and spend a lot of time with my grandchildren and my children. I've got other foster children as well because they stay in touch after all these years, they are still around and remain an important part of my life. I've loved every minute of fostering, and I would recommend anyone to do it because it gives more positives than negatives, it really does."   

To find out more about becoming a foster carer, visit the Foster with North East website.

And to register and find out more information about becoming a Supported Lodgings Host, please visit the Supported Lodgings webpage.