A foster carer has urged more people in Liverpool to come forward to help the 1500 children in care across the city.
Phil Watson, 52, and his wife have been foster carers in Liverpool since 2010. Phil, who lives in Mossley Hill, works to promote fostering for Liverpool City Council and also teaches languages at King David High School.
The council's fostering service has joined with other local authorities from across the country for a campaign to recruit more foster carers. The campaign sees councils, calling themselves 'Local Councils United' to use the World Cup and football to promote fostering.
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Each day of the football tournament a council shares a video with a message of “Help a young person achieve their goal”. Liverpool's video shows Phil appearing outside iconic football locations across Liverpool to promote fostering and to show how it can change the lives on young people.
Last month, Phil told the ECHO about the urgent need to recruit foster carers in Liverpool. He said: "I think there are 1533 kids in foster care in Liverpool at the moment. There is always a need for more foster carers.
"Every single one of those children have got their own story and some of them are absolutely heart-breaking - there can be violence, drugs, alcohol. Sometimes it's just illness, bereavement. You cannot generalise about the reasons why kids go into care, but you can ensure that it is never, ever the child's fault.
"They are always a victim in this system and we need foster carers who can make the worst days for these kids less tough."
He added: "When you hear on the news about drugs, violence and crime, very often there are children involved in that story and for some period of time they might need to go into foster care. It might be for a week, a month, a year, or it might be where they spend most of their childhood."
Phil continued: "Can you imagine being 5 and going to live with strangers with absolutely nothing? With no memories, with nothing to make you feel safe, no teddy? You just think that's an awful thing for someone to go through. As a foster carer, your role is to keep that kid safe and make them feel safe. Then you can begin the process of helping them navigate all that life entails."
About the ongoing campaign to recruit more foster carers, Liverpool’s Assistant Mayor and Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health, Cllr Frazer Lake, said: “We’re proud to join forces with local councils across the UK to raise the importance of fostering. We’re asking people if they can help a child in care to reach their life goals.
“By joining our fostering team, you will be supporting local children and by working together we can make a difference in a child’s life. Football communities in Liverpool are so passionate and committed. It brings people and communities together for a common purpose, and we want the same strength of support and community for our young people.”
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