'Village to raise a child' foster model in West
BBCA foster care programme which provides a network of support is being used by more councils in the West to match children in care with homes.
The Mockingbird programme originated in Seattle, in the US. It is being led by The Fostering Network in the UK which said the number of children in care was rising each year.
Mandy Gibbons, from South Gloucestershire, works as a Mockingbird home hub carer and not only fosters herself but supports other foster families in the area.
"You know the children are coming somewhere you're happy with, you know the carer so it just works all round," she said.
'Time and love'
Latest date from the Fostering Network suggests there were 56,390 children in England living with foster families at the end of March 2024.
Lilian Stephens, head of Mockingbird has explained it is "an extended family model of foster care".
"It's based on the concept a village to raise a child," she said.
The centre is a "hub home", which provides support to satellite homes, these are in turn supported by a liaison officer and the fostering service.
There are 116 councils in the UK using the model. In the West there are partners in South Gloucestershire, Bristol, North Somerset, Wiltshire and Somerset.
Bath and North East Somerset Council are in the process of potentially signing up as well.
Mandy and Adam Gibbons have been fostering children for 16 years.
She described it as the "most incredible, rewarding thing you will do".
"To see how you can change a person's life by giving them time and love they need is like watching a flower open," she said.
Lucy Robinson is a senior social worker for South Gloucestershire Council, which is now part of what is called a Mockingbird constellation, or partner.
"It is really a structure of support and the way that we deliver it," she told the BBC, adding it is based on the premise it takes a village to raise a child.
Ms Robinson added the children being given foster homes tell them they valued being able to speak to other youngsters in the same situation.
Other organisations helping children in care include Home for Good, which was set up by Christian leaders in 2013 following a national shortage in foster homes across the country.
"One girl who came to us when she was just eleven still calls us mum and dad and she's in her twenties," said Dave Kingswood from Midsummer Norton in Somerset who works for the organisation.
Previously a social worker, Mr Kingswood and his wife and their two children decided to become fosterers 10 years ago.
He told BBC Radio Bristol looking back, "I ask myself what were we doing...but actually it was incredible."
He added: "Now my kids are older and they have an empathy that not every kid comes from the same background."
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