A MUM who has been fostering children for 20 years has appealed for more carers to come forward.

Speaking during Foster Care Fortnight, Georgina Sherwood, from Ulverston, said while fostering was ‘hard at times’ it was also extremely rewarding.

Her comments came as Cumbria County Council appealed for more people to consider becoming foster carers.

The council has stressed they are still accepting applications and potential foster carers will still be supported throughout the process during the pandemic.

Georgina has been a foster carer since 2000.

“It’s hard at times, children are challenging at the best of times,” she said.

“But you see the progress in them and that makes you happy and you know you are doing a good job.”

Georgina and firefighter husband Martin care for three children under the age of six, as well as their own children.

The family has still received lots of support during the lockdown.

“Despite the lockdown, social workers are still working, there are still children in need of care,” she said.

“Lockdown has shown the children a sense of family, which they wouldn’t always see when their day was different.

“We’ve continued to have support from their school and we have a support worker and the children have their own social worker.

“There is a team, people coming from different sides to ensure the sense of continuity.”

The council currently supports 200 foster families across the county. However with more than 700 children currently in care there is a desperate need for more.

“We need more carers, and I think we’ll need them even more so during the current situation,” said Barry Chorley, fostering team manager.

“It’s such an important role. You’re with a child through the ups and downs, having them stay in a home. It’s very important in a child’s development. You can change a child’s life.”

If you would like to find out more you can call the fostering team on 0303 333 1216 or visit cumbria.gov.uk/fostering