Swindon Town players will wear special t-shirts this weekend to show their support for the council’s appeal for more people to come forward as foster carers.

The team will wear blue ‘Foster with Swindon’ t-shirts during the warm-up before their final match of the season against Morecambe on Saturday, to raise awareness of the shortage of foster carers in Swindon.

There are more than 300 children under the care of Swindon Borough Council and the shortage of carers means around a third are living outside of the town away from their family and friends. 

Hayley, a foster carer with the council, proposed the idea.

Marieanna MacPherson, fostering recruitment and retention officer at the council, said: “We are so grateful to Hayley for coming up with the idea of asking the football club and the players to get behind our push for more foster carers.

“Fostering can be one of the most rewarding experiences you can ever hope to receive and it will literally transform the life of a young person. Carers can come from all walks of life and be married, single or living with a partner, regardless of sexuality or gender.”

More information about fostering can be found here: www.swindon.gov.uk/fostering