Are you patient, energetic, and with a good sense of humour? If so, have you thought about becoming a foster carer for children and young people?

Foster Care Fortnight runs this year from Monday May 14 to Sunday May 27 – West Sussex County Council is using the national campaign to highlight the need for more foster carers to come forward and give security and stability to children in care.

Foster carers come from all walks of life and from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. People from a variety of backgrounds can apply to foster, regardless of their marital status or sexuality. You don’t just need to be a good parent. Other important skills are patience, energy, a good sense of humour and the ability to treat children and young people as individuals.

Fostering can be either short or long-term and can range from just a few days to several years. There are also several types of fostering including short and long-term, respite, and parent and baby. Foster carers give children the chance to develop and flourish in a safe, secure environment. The County Council aims to try and place children with foster carers in their local area, so they can continue to stay close to their school, friends, people and places they know.

Being a foster carer is very rewarding and is a chance to help support children and young people. Foster carers receive a comprehensive support package from the Council, including ongoing training and financial allowances to meet the needs of the children and young people in their care.

Informal fostering drop-in sessions are being held throughout West Sussex this year and are a chance for anyone interested to find out more and ask any questions they may have. For further information visit the website at www.westsussex.gov.uk/fostering or call 01403 229333.

Fostering drop-in sessions run from 10am to 4pm. The sessions taking place in West Sussex in 2012 are:

• Saturday 19 May, Crawley Library, Southgate Avenue, Crawley, RH10 6HG.
• Tuesday 22 May, Chichester Library, Tower Street, Chichester, PO19 1QJ
• Monday 18 June, East Grinstead Library, 32-40 West Street, East Grinstead, RH19 4SR.
• Tuesday 17 July, Bognor Regis Library, London Road, Bognor Regis, PO21 1DE.
• Wednesday 15 August, Burgess Hill Library, The Martlets, Burgess Hill, RH15 9NN.
• Tuesday 18 September, Selsey Library, School Lane, Selsey, PO20 9EH.
• Tuesday 16 October, Worthing Library, Richmond Road, Worthing, BN11 1HD.
• Tuesday 20 November, Crawley Library, Southgate Avenue, Crawley, RH10 6HG.
• Thursday 6 December, Henfield Library, off High Street, Henfield, BN5 9HN.

The Parish Council is backing NHS Blood and Transplant and urging local residents to give blood.  Stocks always run low at times of big sporting events like the Olympics, or when there are a string of Bank Holidays.  An astonishing 96% of us rely on the other 4% to give blood – so let’s try and redress the balance a little.  First time donors should be aged between 17 to 65, weigh at least 50kg (7Stone 12lbs) and be generally healthy.

There is an upcoming donor session at Majestic House, Blatchford Road, Horsham on Friday 18th May 2012, so to book an appointment call 0300 123 23 23 or visit www.blood.co.uk

North Horsham Parish Council is proud to be supporting a scheme to help prevent bullying, abuse and harassment of people with learning difficulties that has been launched in Horsham and could be set for a countrywide rollout.

The Safe Place Scheme is a joint County Council and Sussex Police initiative that provides a place of safety for anyone with a learning disability whenever they feel threatened or unsafe.

Scheme members carry a card that can be presented to staff at participating businesses and shops, displaying the person’s name and number of someone they trust who can be contacted.  A ‘Making Our Community a Safer Place’ sticker is displayed in shop windows of participating businesses.  Membership is free.

For more information, visit www.westsussex.gov.uk/safeplace
or email gary.capelin@westsussex.gov.uk

Following recent community concerns the Horsham District Community Safety Partnership is seeking to establish a Local Action Team (LAT) in the Roffey area.

Local Action Teams are community led groups that come together to address issues relating to crime, disorder and other community concerns.

The inaugural meeting of the Local Action Team will take place in the Roffey Millennium Hall, Crawley Road on Tuesday 15th May 2012 at 7pm.

For further information please contact PCSO Claire Bonnyman on 07917 501716 or Neil Worth, Community Safety Officer on 01403 215116.

The Horsham District Wellbeing Hub has been set up to help promote and improve the health and quality of life of District residents and employees.  As part of this service, Wellbeing Drop-In Sessions have been arranged, on a trial basis, to be held at Roffey Millennium Hall, Crawley Road on Thursday 3rd May 2012, Thursday 14th June 2012 and Thursday 5th July 2012 from 9.30am to 12.30pm.

The service is a free ‘one stop shop’ for information and advice on physical, mental, emotional and social aspects of people’s wellbeing.  It is a friendly and impartial service, where people are able to talk to an advisor about their health concerns and find out about local services and support groups.

Among the many areas people may wish to get help with are getting themselves or their family fitter, doing some regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, avoiding illness, dealing with stress, loneliness or isolation, kicking a habit or simply improving their general wellbeing.