I have never forgotten the little boy I worked with, as a social worker, who, when Father Christmas asked what he wanted said, straight away: “A new mummy and daddy”. To my everlasting sadness, I was never able to find a parent, or parents, who could meet his needs, see his potential and nurture him until adulthood.

There are now, in the North West, a high number of children, aged 4 and over, for whom, very sadly, that situation is as true today as it was 25 years ago.   That is why Caritas Care has set up a new service, Future Families for Children, to find families for children of primary school age.    These children will have suffered so much in their short lives, including  many losses and rejections, leaving them with low self-esteem, feeling that they must be bad as no-one loves them, maybe not being able to trust anyone .  Our carers, who will be approved as both foster carers and adopters, will be given lots of ongoing support, advice and training to enable them to become that child’s nurturing, loving and permanent family.

All sorts of people can become that special person to a young child – do you have the resilience,  inner strength, support and understanding that these vulnerable children need.  Could this be you?  If you would like to explore this further,  please contact us on

T: 0800 652 6955 E: info@caritascare.org.uk or you can request a callback here

Hilary Thomas, Social Worker & Project Manager supporting the Future for Families service at Caritas Care.  We thank Hilary for her help, support and passion with this service.