Foster carer runs 95k to raise awareness of fostering with GCC
A foster carer has run each of Gloucestershire’s Park Run challenges to raise awareness of fostering with Gloucestershire County Council.
Jacqueline Greenough and her husband, John, have now completed the challenge they set themselves, running 95km in total – the equivalent of running from Cheltenham to London
Jacqueline, who has fostered 25 children with her family since 2017, is a keen runner and wanted to marry that passion with helping GCC find more foster carers in the county. The last run in the challenge, Gloucester City Park Run, coincided with Jacqueline’s 150th park run, and she completed the run triumphantly despite the rain and wind.
When asked how she felt afterwards Jacqueline said:
“I feel slightly elated and quite proud. Especially proud of my 15-year-old foster child who ran her first park run today! We’ve been to some amazing park runs around Gloucestershire; I’d highly recommend it. We have pushed our foster baby in her pushchair on every run – and she LOVES it!
John Greenough spoke about the support they receive on the runs: “It’s marvellous, really. People always call out friendly encouragement when they see our fostering T-Shirts, and we always have quite a few people approaching us to ask questions.”
Cllr Stephen Davies, Cabinet member responsible for fostering at Gloucestershire County Council, said:
This is an amazing challenge to undertake, and I am delighted that Jacqueline and her family have done it to raise awareness… We are always looking for new people to foster within Gloucestershire. I would urge anyone that is interested in fostering to talk to our teams to get more information.
To be a foster carer people need to be over 21 and have a spare room in their home. There is no upper age limit to be a foster carer – as long as the individual is active and in good health.