By Mickey Evans
A fostering and adoption recruitment drive was held by the charity Penny Appeal in Leicester last Saturday.
The event at the City Retreat in Church Gate between 4pm and 6pm put an emphasis on finding Muslim families for children of all faiths.
Hosted by Penny Appeal’s Adoption and Fostering Regional Manager, Nadia Rasul, the event itself detailed the process that families looking to foster or adopt would have to go through.
Penny Appeal is an international humanitarian charity, with projects across the globe providing relief and help to a myriad of world issues.
These include the Grenfell tower incident in London, a scheme called ‘adopt a gran’ in which the public have the opportunity to sponsor an elderly person in a developing country, and UK based adoption and fostering services.
The charity itself has also worked with more than 60 UK-based Islamic scholars in order to create an Islamic Adoption and Fostering guidance document, which is due for release towards the end of this year.
It estimates that there are more than 3,000 Muslim children in care every year, and offers a 40-minute initial screening assessment to applicants looking to foster or adopt, which is free and confidential.
The recruitment drive also played host to guest speakers Steve Bond, Area Manager for A.F.A Fostering, as well as Caron Walker, Post Adoption Social Worker for Family Care.
Additionally, attendants were given a selection of useful information, such as the pre-requirements for fostering and adoption, which take into account financial stability, age, health, and residency issues among other aspects.
The main difference between fostering and adoption is the fact that adoption removes the legal rights of the child’s biological parent, and transfers them to the adoptive parents.
Miss Rasul said: “The criteria for fostering is different to adoption so make sure you’re informed before you begin, learn as much as you can.”
Information regarding the fostering process was provided by A.F.A Fostering, detailing the most important characteristics for potential foster parents, as well as support and advice.
Mr Bond said: “The emotional impact of abuse in childhood is long lasting, and one of the most difficult parts of fostering.”
There are many ways people can get involved through Penny Appeal with fostering and adoption.
Miss Rasul said: “We have the ability to transform these children’s lives, whether it’s by fostering, adoption or even just spreading the word.”
Penny Appeal offers a wide range of literature on the subject, as well as an informative YouTube series, ‘My Muslim Fostering Family.‘
For more information, phone Penny Appeal on 03000 11 11 11, Nadia Rasul on 07718 645973 for a confidential one to one consultation, or email adoptionandfostering@pennyappeal.org.
