Acclaimed actress Alison Steadman OBE joins awards to honour dedicated foster carers
Acclaimed actress Alison Steadman OBE was among the special guests at the Camden Foster Carers Awards, which honoured our long-serving foster carers and those who have made an outstanding contribution to foster care in Camden.
Awards were presented by Alison, an Olivier and BAFTA award-winner whose distinguished acting career began in the 1960s, to Camden foster carers who have served the borough’s looked after children for 5, 10, 15 and 25 years.
It was also the night that the winner of Camden’s annual award in memory of Sally Joseph, the Council’s long-serving Head of Service for Children’s Care Provision who died in 2021, was announced.
The Mayor of Camden, Councillor Nazma Rahman, and Alison Steadman OBE, presented this year's Sally Joseph Award to Sarah Livingstone and James Kargbo. This award, which includes a £1,000 grant to further their work, recognises excellent practice within corporate parenting (how the Council looks after children in care).
Sarah, who is Chair of Camden Association of Foster Carers (CAFC), and James, Camden Council's former fostering team manager, won the award for their well-received and pioneering work in developing and launching Replenish boxes for black looked-after children. These branded boxes contain hair and skin products to support foster carers to better meet the needs of the children they care for, both girls and boys. You can read more about their work here.
Alison Steadman OBE, who said she found watching the news and hearing about the current state of the world ‘depressing’, told foster carers at the event: “I am absolutely delighted to be here tonight and to hear about all the wonderful things that you do. It has just given me a lift and made me realise that there are good people in this world.”
Well done to all the amazing foster carers who received well-deserved recognition at the Camden Foster Carers Awards, as well as to Sarah and James, the winners of the Sally Joseph Award, whose award I was proud to present together with Alison Steadman OBE. It was a wonderful celebration event organised by the Camden fostering team.
These awards give the Council a chance to say thank you to our longest-serving foster carers, as well as highlighting the need for more to come forward to provide a secure and loving home for children. All of the foster carers honoured at this event deserve our praise and admiration for their hard work, enthusiasm and commitment and I was proud to be there to celebrate their fantastic contribution to children’s lives.
I would encourage anyone who feels they could follow the example of those honoured in these awards, and offer a loving home to Camden children who desperately need a family, to get in touch with our wonderful fostering team.
This year’s awards took place on Friday 30 June at the Holiday Inn, Camden Lock. It was the final Camden Foster Carers Awards to be compered by Camden’s retiring Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director for Supporting People, Martin Pratt, who chose to spend his last day in the job he has held for the past nine years at the awards night.
This year’s long-service Foster Carers Award winners were:
- 5 years - Homa Atib and Cara Kumar
- 10 years - Joanne Cooper
- 15 years - Jacqueline Munoz
- 25 years - Carolyn and Norman Hamilton.
Other guests at the awards event included the Leader of Camden Council, Councillor Georgia Gould, the Council's Director of Children's Safeguarding and Social Care, Rashida Baig MBE, and the Council's recently-appointed Head of Corporate Parenting, Brenda Amisi-Hutchinson.
To find out more about fostering please call 020 7974 1283 or 0800 028 1436 (freephone), email [email protected] or visit camden.gov.uk/fostering.
Photo credit: Foster Carers Awards photography by Vinesh Mohanraj and Raj Munisami.