20 children each week in need of foster families in Lancashire

We can reveal the scale of demand for foster carers across Lancashire, with 20 children each week in need of a foster family to take them in.

The figures come at the start of Foster Care Fortnight, shining a light on the work foster families do in caring for young people across the country.

Lancashire County Council is holding a series of events throughout the county to celebrate the fortnight, and to recruit new carers under the hashtag #ProudtoFoster.

Lisa Price is a foster carer in Preston, she has looked after seven children since she first took on the job a decade ago:

"It's about seeing that relationship build, bringing them back to childhood and letting them go on a trip or going and doing their schoolwork without having to worry about anything else. They trust you and they start building a relationship and they learn how to interact with families, which they may not have been able to do.

"Going on holiday is a big one. Taking them on the first holiday, they just smiled from start to finish. We've got a caravan and we go away with them in the caravan and they love it, it's just the simple things. "We've got two sisters at the moment, one of them is doing her GCSEs, so she's doing fab. To notice how she's grown since she came is amazing. She feels safe, she wasn't when she first came, she's on A*s already, before she's even taken the exams. It's amazing.

"You've got to remember that they're children and they might have come from a difficult situation but you build on that relationship and you watch them grow, then they're ever so grateful for helping you to do that.

"Sometimes it's hard - it is hard, but it works. The children we've had in our home have taught my daughter a few values about not taking things for granted and she embraces it. My little boy's three now and he loves it. If you walked in our home you wouldn't know we were a foster family, it's so nice to just walk in and, for them, it's just normal everyday life. For them they need to know normal and to know that they're loved.

"It just makes me glow inside, I can't describe it. I can't really describe it. We still keep in touch with all of ours, in fact the first foster child we had 10 years ago has just had a baby of her own so we're going to visit them next week.

County Councillor Susie Charles, Lancashire County Council's Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools, said:

"We are pleased to take part in this great campaign which showcases the commitment, passion and dedication of carers who are proud to foster. It also supports fostering services to highlight the need for more carers. We are always looking for new foster carers for the range of children who come into our care each week, with the greatest need being for foster carers for older children, sibling groups and children with additional needs.

"The theme of Foster Care Fortnight this year is 'foster care transforms lives', and we know this isn't just the lives of the children and young people who are fostered, it also has the power to change the lives of foster carers, their families and all those who are involved in fostering."

Some of the community events across the county being held during Foster Care Fornight include:

• 16th May - 10am - 3pm: Chorley Library, Union St, Chorley

• 17th May - 9.30am - 4pm: Charter Walk Shopping Centre, Market Promenade, Burnley

• 18th May - 10am to 3pm: Sainsbury's, Active Way, Burnley

• 19th May - 11am - 3pm: Lancaster Pride, Dalton Square, Lancaster

• 21st May - 10am to 4pm: Fishergate Shopping Centre, Preston

• 22nd May - 10am to 4pm: Freeport, Anchorage Rd, Fleetwood

• 25th May - 10am to 4pm: St Peter's Health Care Centre, 42 Church St, Burnley