We hear from Alex Shewring, the daughter of a foster carer, about what being a foster sibling means to her

There are a number of high profile, multi-million pound football teams in north London that footie fans can get passionate about, but the group that has been put together by the Care Leavers teams at Brent Council, also has much to shout about. 

Having blogged for many years about fostering and raising children I have more recently looked at ways in which adults and young people can achieve happiness and contentment. Last time we looked at the benefits of thinking positively - for our children, young people and ourselves.  Last time I looked at the benefits of thinking positively - for our children, young people and ourselves.  This time I would like to look at how to achieve positive thinking. 

The relationship between fostered children and their former foster carers is increasingly being recognised as extremely important to the development and wellbeing of the child. In response to feedback from our members, we launched the Keep Connected campaign to make sure the importance of maintaining relationships between children and young people and their former foster carers is recognised. Last month we brought together leading voices from the sector to discuss the campaign and plan the next steps.

With the Great British Bake Off having just kicked off, our vice-president Darren Harman-Page - a former professional baker - shares some of his thoughts about baking and the therapeutic benefits to children in a fostering family.

We hope his blog (and future recipes that Darren will be sharing with us) will inspire you to get baking - why not hold a bake sale to fundraise for us? Find out how here.

Here's the latest news from our campaigns team, including how you can support our Tick the Box campaign and an update on the record-breaking response to our State of the Nation survey.

The fundraising team at The Fostering Network appreciate what an emotional undertaking it can be to sign up to a personal challenge and we are so grateful to everyone who continues to do so to raise money and awareness for The Fostering Network.

Lucy writes about maintaining hope despite challenging times and a sense of inertia

Hub home carers are at the centre of each of our Mockingbird contellations, so we thought we would let you know what their role involves.