LET’S FOSTER TAKE CENTRE ICE FOR A SPECIAL NIGHT AT THE HAWKS NEST
2025 looks to be a huge year for the Blackburn Hawks. Going into the new year, the Hawks are chasing down the Billingham Stars for top spot in the league as well as having a crunch cup clash lined up against local rivals, the Deeside Dragons. Blackburn will actually commence this monumental year with a match-up against the Dragons at the Hawks Nest on Saturday January 4th. Given the upcoming cup draw against Deeside anticipation for this fixture is at a high, however Saturday’s game is also important for another reason, as the Blackburn Hawks have partnered with Let’s Foster for a special theme night.
Based in the local community through Blackburn with Darwen Council, Let’s Foster’s goal is to ‘ensure children are healthy, safe and happy. Moving children and young people from their family and home environment can be distressing and they may not fully understand why it is happening. Let’s Foster do their best to match children’s needs with foster carers’ skills and experience from the start so that they can give them as much stability as possible and avoid the need for them to have multiple placements’. Saturday’s theme night has been arranged with the co-operation of Mike Dixon, part of Let’s Foster’s community outreach team (and a fellow Hawks fan).
Mike is fronting a campaign to get more people involved in fostering, as the UK faces a national shortage of foster carers. He notes how in the local community, ‘we have carers coming up for retirement and not enough carers to come in and take their place. We have more children needing to be kept safe. We need families who can look after teenagers and siblings. We work hard to keep children together wherever possible’. Unfortunately, the number of children in care is continuing to rise each year. Fostering Network states that over 100,000 children are in the UK care system, with estimates that around 38,000 more children could come into care over the course of the next 12 months. That is one child every 15 minutes who could need a foster family.
Whilst there is currently a big need for new foster carers, the positive impact that foster carers can have on others is similarly huge. Mike believes that carers ‘offer stability at a time when a child is going through one of the most traumatic things they can experience. Foster carers will settle that child over the time they are together and the outcomes for each child can change dramatically. Foster carers are there 24/7, they work alongside our teams to ensure that the child in their care has everything they need from the support at school to contact where possible with family. The work foster carers do is not easy but is one of the most import and stabilising things that happens for children at a really difficult time in their lives’.
Saturday’s theme night isn’t the first time that Let’s Foster has connected with the Hawks. Mike notes how he’s been ‘working with the team for the past few years, having helped with sponsorship and having some adverts around the rink. This year the club has really stepped up their support and offered to host the theme night. We jumped at the chance. The kit looks great, the opportunity to be there with staff and foster carers is something we are all really excited about. The special theme night jerseys which Mike mentions are to be worn exclusively in the game against Deeside and then will be raffled off in a draw which will take place in the bar post-match. Tickets are still available for this very special raffle and can be purchased on the Hawks website. The theme night festivities don’t end there though. The Hawks and Let’s Foster are also asking those in attendance to participate in a teddy toss, where all teddies thrown onto the ice at the end of the first period will be collected and donated via the team at Secret Santa.
With all these special events occurring on Saturday’s theme night, it is easy to forget there’s actually an ice hockey game being played! Mike, a long-time local in the Hawks Nest, is ‘expecting a good game from the lads. We have been playing well this season so it promises to be a good night. For the kids that haven’t been to an Ice Hockey game before they are in for a treat. Seeing their faces when the lads head out onto the ice will be really nice’.
Saturday’s theme night looks to be a brilliant way to start 2025, with the action on the ice promising to be as good as the cause the Hawks are supporting off it. Mike will be in attendance at the game with a cohort of other volunteers from Let’s Foster . He says ‘if you are interested and would like to know more, you can speak to a member of the team during the theme night or you can visit LetsFoster.co.uk. We can answer any questions you have about fostering or help you decide which of the different types of fostering would work well for you and your family. We need foster carers from all walks of life, all backgrounds and all cultures. Our children with Blackburn with Darwen need to feel safe and loved. If you think you have something to offer, get in touch with us today. People interested can also speak with our fostering hub. They are on hand to help you through the application process and answer all your questions while you are deciding how fostering an work for you’…
Next steps – Visit www.LetsFoster.co.uk/hawks. Here you can find all the information you need about fostering. If you want to speak to someone directly, call our support hub team on 0300 019 0200.