Latest news with #Fearon
Sunday Post
18-05-2025
- General
- Sunday Post
Foster carers transform lives, says charity as it urges families to help
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up Fostering is on the brink of crisis with a shortage of carers stripping children of the chance to live with a family, according to a leading charity. Aberlour Children's Charity is urging more Scots to consider fostering to help bridge the widening gap between the number of children in need of a home and the number of available carers. Nicola Fearon, the charity's head of fostering, confirms applications to become foster carers have dropped in recent years and believes there are a variety of factors for why that is the case. She said: 'In recent years, there have certainly been more carers leaving and fewer coming in. There are many reasons, from an ageing population and people caring more for elderly relatives to the cost-of- living crisis.' Aberlour, which has been delivering foster care for more than 20 years, believes the pool of potential carers is wide and diverse. Fearon said: 'Our vetting will be thorough but there are few things that would automatically rule out potential carers. Children come from all sorts of backgrounds and carers come from all sorts of background too. It's about empathy, not experience. We would encourage anyone who has ever thought about it, however briefly, to pick up the phone or send us an email.' Care Inspectorate data covering the five years up to 2024 revealed only 178 new foster carers registered in 2023, the lowest number in five years, while 405 households came off the register. Almost half of potential foster carers, with most receiving at least £20,000 to care for a child, were approved within six months. Fearon said while the responsibility of providing foster care can seem daunting to potential carers, it has the power to change the lives of children and carers alike. She said: 'The lives of fostered children can be transformed but so can the lives of carers and their own children and grandchildren. Our carers say the same things again and again. They will talk about giving something back, of giving a child a family and a home. They will say it's challenging but the sense of making a real difference to a child's life far outweighs the rest.' Aberlour, marking its 150th anniversary this year in partnership with The Sunday Post, is the biggest Scotland-only children's charity delivering more than 50 frontline services for children and their families across the country. Lynne O'Brien, chief officer for children and families, believes wide-ranging expertise allows carers to receive exceptional support so they do not feel out of their depth. She said: 'Our foster carers are highly valued and we can draw on different services and expertise from across Scotland. Flexibility is key and we have the ability to be creative to tailor support for children and families.' 'It's about belonging and love' It has not always been a bed of roses but, according to Aberlour Children Charity's first foster carers, that's kind of the point. 'It's about being a family for children and every family will have ups and downs,' said Shona Stewart. 'You enjoy the good times and get through the bad times and you do it together as a family. It's about belonging and love. That's all it's about, really.' Shona and husband David were Aberlour's first carers when the charity launched its fostering service in 2004. Experienced in social work and residential care, they were still surprised by the positive impact of fostering. Shona and David (not their real names, to protect the privacy of their children) said fostering was life-changing for everyone. Shona, 56, said: 'When I was training as a social worker, we were told that if there's one person crazy about you then you are more likely to succeed. 'We just wanted to be the people crazy for these kids.'
CBC
31-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
A proposed 10-storey apartment has one St. John's resident frustrated with the city
A proposed 10-storey apartment building in St. John's has one resident worried that the city isn't following its own rules. KMK Capital wants to build a 107-unit apartment building at 34 New Cove Road, the site of the former MAX recreation facility. Mary Fearon says she had "mixed feelings" when she heard city council voted to exempt the project from the step-back requirement, which is meant to mitigate the impact of wind, shadow and height. "Those rules and regulations and policies and procedures are in place to ensure that we're meeting the needs of who [the] city works for, which are the community members, and the city as a whole, right? Not just developers," she told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show. Fearon feels the city didn't follow its own municipal plan to make sure new builds are appropriate to the neighbourhood. She wants KMK to reduce its proposal's height and is worried about additional traffic in the area. "There's lots of available spaces in St. John's right now where housing could be built," said Fearon. CBC News has asked KMK for comment. Building has changed But Mayor Danny Breen says the city has a "robust" engagement process over proposals, and council considers those arguments and other information when it makes decisions. "In this case, this is a project that I've concluded that's in a very good location for an apartment building," said Breen. He pointed to its proximity walking trails and amenities like grocery stories and public transit, as well as its impacts to traffic. Breen said the city looked at the impact of the set-back and determined there will be a shadow in the evening that will go over the law office across the street and to the cemetery. "That was the biggest impact from not having a set-back. So council decided not to require the set-back," he said. He added the city can waive requirements if there is a solid reason given, which, he said, isn't done lightly. If council had determined a set-back was required, Breen said it would have resulted in KMK eliminating several apartment units. "That would have changed the economics of the building," he said, adding that could mean the remaining units are more expensive to rent. "One thing that I think people should realize is that the economics of building these buildings is changing. It's getting very, very expensive and there is going to be a need to have higher buildings." Breen said there are about 2,000 housing units currently in various stages of the city's application process.
BBC News
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Liverpool Royal Court: 'Theatre's rise is thanks to our inspirational city'
A theatre which has seen its annual attendance rise by 11% has said its success is down to being a "theatre for the people".Liverpool's Royal Court said local-themed productions had helped establish its reputation for shows "full of relatable characters, warmth and humour"."We've always been a Liverpool-focused theatre so the work that we create is for our audience, for Liverpool," executive producer Kevin Fearon said."We find writers who have got great Liverpool stories. The work we put on stage has to relate to our audience." Latest figures released in the theatre's annual review showed 187,319 tickets had been sold. The venue hosted some 409 performances as well as 11,437 school audience Fearon said since 2017 all of the theatre's plays had been new writing and it had a reputation for telling local stories. "The audience has to recognise characters they live with, or they know, or they work with - they have to be real people," Mr Fearon said."We have a formula for our work. It has to be Liverpool at its heart and for me that is warmth. It is a sense of humour and it is honest."If we get that right in a play the audience love it."Among its shows, the theatre staged the premiere of Alan Bleasdale's Boys From The Blackstuff, which was retold by writer James Graham in collaboration with Bleasdale. Other Liverpool-themed productions included Haunted Scouse, A Greasy Spoon and Bingo Mr Fearon also put the venue's growing success down to adapting to a changing audience and the introduction of cabaret-style dining."There's 170 seats for dining where people can have a meal and a drink before the show," Mr Fearon said."When the rest of the audience come in later the room has already got a feeling."It feels like you're in a place that's going to have a good time, that helps theatre, it's not a cold space."He said it had taken 20 years "to get it right" and constant feedback with visitors and asking them what they enjoyed."We listen to our audience," he said."Theatres across the country are finding it difficult to get audiences but we are very different to them, we write the work for our audience."What makes us all Liverpudlians is that we laugh at ourselves."A sense of humour that we have in Liverpool, that what gets us through the day and through our lives." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Yahoo
Tony Martin ‘did what he had to do to protect himself', admits burglar he shot
Tony Martin 'did what he had to do to protect himself' when he shot a burglar dead on his farm in 1999, an accomplice who survived has said. Martin was charged with murder following the death of 16-year-old Fred Barras and the wounding of 29-year-old Brendan Fearon with a shotgun. Fearon, who is now 54, said he 'never held any bitterness or animosity' towards Martin, in an interview with the Daily Mirror following the farmer's death last Sunday. Martin lay in wait for the would-be thieves during the burglary, killing Barras and leaving Fearon with life-changing injuries. Fearon claimed it was the tenth time Martin's Bleak House farmhouse in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk, was burgled. He told the newspaper: 'I have never felt any bitterness or animosity toward that farmer. He did what he had to do to protect himself and his home. 'I'm not saying he should have shot someone dead, that's wrong, but he felt persecuted by us and we shouldn't have been there. His place had been robbed 10 times before and it was an easy target. I have no anger.' Martin was charged with the murder of Barras, but maintained until his death that he acted in self-defence. The trial ignited a nationwide debate about what measures homeowners can legitimately take to defend their property. Prosecutors maintained that Martin's actions were premeditated, but the murder charge was dropped to manslaughter and he was jailed for three years. He was released from prison in 2003. The Crime and Courts Act was passed 10 years later, allowing people a 'householder's defence', if they used reasonable force against an intruder that was not 'grossly disproportionate'. Fearon also told the newspaper he did not intend to rob Martin, and claimed he and a driver were 'going to help the lad (Barras) sell some of the stuff he had stolen and kept in a lock-up'. They eventually broke into Martin's home. He also said he thought he was going to die at the hands of Martin. He added: 'I was injured and hurting but I started rolling across the ground then walking. I thought I was going to die but I kept thinking of my kids and I had to get to safety. I was rolling and walking and zig zagging across the place, it seems I had gone a mile up the road when I came to a house. 'I was gasping for breath and banging on the windows saying 'water, water', and an elderly couple then helped me. They turned on a hose pipe in the garden and I put it to my mouth while they called the ambulance. At the time I had no idea poor Fred was dead. The farmer didn't raise the alarm, he left me to my own fate. I deserved that. 'I later found out he had climbed up a ladder and had been at the top of a tree looking down on us and where he shot his gun at us. It must have been scary for him with intruders, he'd been done so many times before, so you can't blame him.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
