So when Kiri and her partner heard an advert on the radio looking for foster carers, it seemed fate was calling.
The award-winning stand-up comedian, with a wide-ranging stage, TV and radio career, might not seem like an obvious candidate for a foster parent – you’d imagine people doing this need to have a routine, predictable home life.
But what Kiri Pritchard-McLean, 37, and her partner can offer is respite fostering at their North Wales farm on Anglesey for short periods, when they are at home and can fully engage with their charges.
This means taking in children for typically a couple of days, although this has ranged from a few hours to two weeks.
It gives longer-term fostering families or the care-experienced children themselves time out, providing gaps in care “like floating babysitters”.
According to The Fostering Network, almost 70,000 children live with almost 52,000 foster families across the UK each day.
This is nearly three-quarters of the 98,000 children in care away from home on any one day in the UK.
Listen to her conversation on the Parenting Hell Podcast with Josh and Rob. Listener discretion is advised for their use of language.
If you want to learn how you can make a difference in a child’s life, get in touch with us today. Call 0300 0190 200 or fill out the form, and one of our friendly team members will reach out to you.
Blackburn with Darwen offers full training and support, local offers and discounts like Blue Light Card, BwD Leisure, and Days Out. We offer a generous payment package as well as set-up costs, travel allowances and additional holiday and birthday allowances. You will have your own Social Worker who will be there with you every step of the way and the chance to be part of a team, passionate about making a real difference to children and young people in our area.
There is a national shortage of foster carers, so there has never been a more important time to start your fostering journey. With record numbers of children in care and around 13 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 6,500 foster families in the next 12 months alone.
That’s 760 fostering households in the North West where there is a particular need for foster carers to look after teenagers and sibling groups.
