Tottenham Hotspur’s To Care Is To Do project
Now more than ever foster carers are desperately needed in Haringey to provide a warm, loving and nurturing home for children and young people in care. In partnership with Tottenham Hotspur’s To Care Is To Do project, we are aiming to help and encourage the wider society to understand and value fostering, and the positive difference it can make to young people’s lives. This increased awareness will build support for fostering, challenge stigma surrounding children in foster care and encourage more people to come forward to foster.
Tottenham Hotspur Foundation - the Club’s own charitable arm - is dedicated to creating life-changing opportunities for people across its local community. They provide a range of support services to help improve educational attainment, increase employability, develop life skills, and promote healthy and active lifestyles.
To Care Is To Do, is designed to engage and inspire looked after children and care leavers within the local community.
Hear from Lauren, programme coordinator for To Care is To Do
We caught up with Lauren, the programme coordinator for To Care is To Do who said:
I have had the pleasure of seeing our young people develop over the years. From confidence building to life skills, our children often arrive at events alone and leave with friends.
To Care is To Do is a partnership programme with the Haringey Virtual School. It is a programme that has something for everyone and is built around the individual’s needs and interests. Cooking classes, life skills workshops, holiday events, and employment support are some of the few activities we do. Providing an experience which a young person may not get at home is the ultimate goal here, whilst building confidence and friendships in the process. We will always aim to provide comfort to the world of our looked after children, who have often experienced more than a child should ever have to.
Hear from our foster carers
Foster carers continually share with us that fostering is one of the most rewarding experiences they have done. They are able to offer very vulnerable children, safety and comfort at a very difficult time in their life.
Janet
Janet has been a foster carer in Haringey for 6 years and currently looks after Farouk, who is part of Tottenham Hotspur’s To Care is To Do programme.
I heard about the programme through Haringey Council. Since Farouk has been on the programme, Spurs has played a big part in Farouk’s development which has definitely helped to boost his confidence. He even got a job at Spurs as a steward.
For anyone interested in joining the To Care is To Do programme, Janet had this advice:
I would tell everyone it is a very good idea and as with Farouk, he didn’t want to do it at first. I encouraged him to go and try it and he loved it. I would encourage anyone to go and have a taster day and then they can see what the programme is about and what it has to offer. There were other children there that Farouk met through activities he had done previously and through the care system, so he was meeting people he could relate who have similar backgrounds.
Jacqui
Jacqui, foster carer for Haringey for over 10 years said:
Fostering was something that always interested me. I often saw the poster and imagined being able to have a positive influence in a child’s life.
Vera
If you are interested in becoming a foster carer, Vera, a foster carer of 8 years said:
If someone wanted to become a foster carer, I would tell them to do it, because it gives you satisfaction knowing that you can help change a young person’s life and make the child feel loved and cared for.
These are only a few of the many foster carers that have come through Haringey and have signed up their foster child to the To Care is To Do programme.
More fostering news and blog posts
