Wirral Council<\/a> on September 23, Julie said: \u201cI was shocked when I found out about it, and it is an honour, but I don\u2019t do this to be recognised for it. I do it because it\u2019s in me. I never dreamed of getting a medal.\u201d<\/p>\nThe widowed mum of four biological children has previously spoken about her experiences being a foster carer of more than 27 years. She said: \u201cI\u2019ve met loads of people who think they couldn\u2019t be a foster carer because of the way they look or talk but it\u2019s just not true.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years I\u2019ve been invited to give talks and encourage others to take the leap. One time I turned up with my hair in a scruffy bun, in my gym stuff and my sliders \u2013 only to find out I was going to be on camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know what, in the end I was glad because that\u2019s me at my most comfortable, that\u2019s me being the real me. And that\u2019s all you have to be to be a foster carer, be yourself.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about where you\u2019re from, it\u2019s about what you bring to the table. How would you treat a child of your own? That\u2019s how you should treat a foster child.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany foster children do return to their biological families, but some don\u2019t. I consider myself lucky that I\u2019ve had a lot of long-term placements with children who\u2019ve basically grown up with me \u2013 I\u2019ve had the privilege of helping to shape them into young adults and adults.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my lads has been with me since he was a teenager \u2013 he\u2019s 32 now and still lives with me. Some of the others moved out when they were 18, but still visit me multiple times a week. We have that bond. It\u2019s like that with a lot of my children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe go on holidays together, bowling, cinema, we hold street parties and bring everyone together. I love it, it gives me a lot of joy. It\u2019s also the difference you make in a child\u2019s life \u2013 that\u2019s the real reward.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a video published by Cheshire and Merseyside partnership Foster4, she said: \u201cIt\u2019s just lovely seeing how they change from when they come to where they are now. They\u2019ve got a safe environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got a home. Someone that cares for them, someone that loves them, and it\u2019s the love you get back off those children.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cYou\u2019ve really got to make sure your mind is made up to do it and if you\u2019ve got a partner, they\u2019ve got to be on board but if you really want to do it, I\u2019ll help you do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieve me once you start that ball rolling, you will carry on. Go for it. It\u2019s the best thing I\u2019ve ever done in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Children\u2019s social care makes up a large proportion of Wirral Council\u2019s budget. Unlike previous years where it has been over budget, the department is expected to be \u00a31m under budget this year.<\/p>\n
This is largely due to a big drop in demand for children\u2019s residential placements. The local authority has been pushing to promote its foster carer service in recent years as this is far lower in costs than residential placements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Julie Robinson, from the Wirral, said she ‘was shocked’ when she found out about itJulie Robinson, a foster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7730,7731,1760,518,7710,519,8881,9313],"class_list":{"0":"post-448535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-charles","10":"tag-charles-iii","11":"tag-king-charles","12":"tag-king-charles-iii","13":"tag-royal-families","14":"tag-royal-family","15":"tag-wirral","16":"tag-wirral-council"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115260689583165188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Julie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_Julie-Robinson-a-foster-carer-in-Wirral.jpg\")
Julie Robinson, a foster carer in Wirral.(Image: Foster4)<\/p>\n