Bury urgently needs more foster carers to come forward after the number of people looking to become foster parents in the borough plummeted by nearly two-thirds during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Figures from Bury Council’s fostering service Foster with Bury show that from 1 March to 31 May this year it had 53 enquiries from people wanting to be foster carers, compared to 138 in the same period in 2019 – a 62 per cent year-on-year decline.

The plunge in potential foster carers appears to have been replicated nationwide after a leading children’s charity Barnardo’s also released figures showing its enquiries had dropped by almost half (47 per cent).

In order to be eligible to foster you must be over 21 years old, be a full-time resident in the UK or have leave to remain, and have a spare bedroom. Whatever your race, gender, sexuality, living arrangements, age or employment status, Foster with Bury wants to hear from you.

It doesn’t matter whether you are:

• Heterosexual, gay or lesbian
• Married, living with someone or single
• Living in your own home or renting
• Able-bodied or living with a disability
• Working or not
• Living with your own children or without
• Minority ethnic background
• Male or female.

To find out more, please visit www.fosterwithbury.co.uk and fill in our contact form, or call 0800 9555 311 and a member of the Foster with Bury team will contact you.