Fantastic poem written by young people in care included in mural at Merthyr FC

Foster Wales Merthyr Tydfil has been working with local artist Tee2Sugars and local children to create a beautiful mural which celebrates the difference local authority fostering makes to young people.

Last weekend (Sun 26th May), a new mural was unveiled at Merthyr Town FC, organised by the team from Foster Wales Merthyr Tydfil. The mural includes a poem written by care experienced young people in Merthyr Tydfil whose meaningful and lovingly written words narrate how important fostering is and what a difference it can make.

In Wales, Foster Wales is the national network for local authority fostering services, who over the course of Foster Care Fortnight have worked with groups and teams to raise awareness of the difference foster care makes.

A poem and mural designs were brought to Tee2Sugars during FCF by young people in Foster Wales Merthyr Tydfil’s care. Foster Care Fortnight™ (13-26 May) is an annual event to celebrate Wales’ incredible fostering community and encourage more people to consider becoming local authority foster carers.

The completed mural was unveiled at Merthyr Town FC on Sunday 26th May and will remain as a regular reminder to people of the huge difference that foster carers make in our local communities.

Jo Llewellyn, Head of Service at Foster Wales Merthyr Tydfil, added:

“A huge thanks to everyone in the team for organising such a fitting piece to thank and celebrate our foster carers, whilst also raising awareness of their role in our community. Working on this project with Merthyr Town FC and Tee2Sugars has been fantastic and I would like to thank them for their collaboration and enthusiasm in working with us to raise awareness, and for showing that everyone can bring something to the table with local authority fostering. We hope that the poem and artwork now visible in a prominent location in Merthyr Tydfil will inspire more people to foster with us”.

The mural unveiling event was just one of dozens taking place across Wales as part of this year’s celebrations during Foster Care Fortnight. Others included a cooking workshop for care-experienced young people led by chef Colleen Ramsey and Foster Walk Cardiff which was led by 2x Olympic medallist and fostering campaigner Fatima Whitbread, MBE.

Foster Wales is also launching a new celeb-backed cookbook ‘Bring something to the table’ – which is available to download for free – and shares real-life fostering moments, to help inspire more people to consider becoming local authority foster carers.

In Wales, there are currently over 7,000 young people in care, but only 3,800 foster families. Foster Wales has set out with the bold aim of recruiting over 800 new foster families by 2026, to provide welcoming homes for local children and young people.