There is still time to secure your place at this month’s Fostering Information Day.

Wandsworth Council has launched a recruitment drive to get another 20 foster carers and is inviting potential carers to attend the event at the town hall on Thursday, September 21.

There are three sessions taking place during the course of the day.

Children placed into foster care are of all ages and from all backgrounds, although most of them are teenagers.

Foster carers willing to take siblings, older young people and children with special needs into their homes are all needed urgently.

Often only a temporary home is needed while problems in the child’s family home, such as health issues, are sort out and other children need a home because they have been abused or neglected.

Foster carer Pauline said, for her, fostering is about giving back the child or young person’s self-confidence and helping them achieve their potential.

Her first placement was a nine-month-old baby who was adopted three years later.

Pauline said: “She was my first foster child and was my little shining star, so clever and always happy and beaming. When the time came for her to be adopted I was very sad, but for me it was about preparing her to settle into her new permanent home.

“I prepared a large photo album and did lots of life story work to help her in her future journey.

“Some placements are easier than others but fostering is never easy – it has its challenges but the rewards are enormous.”

Foster carers do not need to own their home, but they do need to have a spare room.

You can be married, in a civil partnership, or single and Wandsworth’s carers come from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Weekly allowances are £196 per week for those looking after zero to ten-year-olds and £255 for 11 to 17-year-olds.

Weekly fees will go up to £170 for looking after zero to ten-year-olds and £200 for 11 to 18-year-olds, making the total weekly payment of £366 and £455 respectively, and these rates will also be paid for each additional child looked after as well as an enhanced fee for fostering children and young people requiring intensive support.

Foster carers from other agencies are also welcome to attend.

For more information, visit: www.wandsworth.gov.uk/fostering

Alternatively, you can email: carerrecruitment@wandsworth.gov.uk