Fostering
Hundreds gather for council’s Black History Month celebrations
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A celebration was held to mark Black History Month at Walsall Arena last week.
The council’s fostering service and local charity, Walsall’s Black Sisters Collective (WBSC), hosted a free event to celebrate the awareness month.
More than 200 people attended the day which included live performances such as singing, dancing, and poetry, workshops, talks, food and drink, and even a fashion show.
Black History Month is held in October each year, and is an opportunity to share, celebrate and understand the impact of Black heritage and culture.
The theme of Black History Month 2024 was ‘reclaiming narratives’, which called for Black communities across the UK to step into the role of storytelling and share inspiring stories about Black culture and identity.
“ The council, along with the community, pulled off a phenomenal Black History Month celebration event for 2024.
Held at the Walsall Arena & Arts Centre, it brought together families, communities, agencies and other partners. It was a fantastic community event that demonstrated community cohesion and integration at its best.
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Glenise Green and Lashone Richards are Walsall Council foster carers and helped organised the event.
Glenise said, “Walsall Council’s fostering service prides itself on its efforts in working actively to ensure that policies and practices in fostering not only fully support the needs of Black children in care but also the specific needs of Black foster carers too.
“We want Black children to be proud to be Black. Proud of their great history and culture, and confident about themselves and their future.
“One of the ways to do this is to provide and reinforce positive narratives about our rich and diverse culture and identity, so it was great to see such an amazing turnout on the day.”
Lashone said, “This was a celebration not just for the Walsall foster families, but our local community too. The event was free making it accessible for all and we showcased local talent and artists.
“Everyone had the opportunity to go home with memorabilia, whether that was a free t-shirt or bag to wear proudly, with a positive message around Black culture. The children and families had a great time. I feel extremely honoured to be part of the Mockingbird programme and involved in anti-racism work with the council to ensure events like this continue to be such a success.”
More about the council’s fostering service, and its mockingbird programme can be found on the council’s website: https://go.walsall.gov.uk/fostering
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