Thanet residents Carol and Derek Moody have been awarded MBEs in the 2022 New Year Honours list for their services to foster care.
For the couple - who provide foster care for disabled children through The Caldecott Foundation - the honour comes as the pinnacle-to-date of what is becoming a rapidly growing list of accolades. In 2016 and 2021, the couple were handed national Fostertalk Awards, which sandwiched a Head of Fostering Award from Kent County Council which they received in 2017.
Speaking after news broke of their inclusion on the 2022 New Year Honours list, Carol Moody told The Isle of Thanet News outlet: “We are pleased, honoured and humbled to have received an MBE. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet; it certainly was a brilliant New Year’s Eve.
“There are so many wonderful foster carers out there making a real difference and we applaud them all. Thank you to those who nominated and supported this nomination, we have no idea who nominated us but thank you so much for recognising the difference we have made.”
Paying tribute to their extended family, fostering colleagues and The Caldecott Foundation, Carol added: “We want to say a huge thank you to our birth children and their partners who have always included our young people as one of the family. And our extended family, friends and other professionals for their many years of valuable support which we couldn’t have done without them in our over 20 years of fostering.
“A massive thank you must also go to Caldecott Fostering for their excellent support and for always being there to share our fostering journey and again especially during Covid-19. Our boys…what can I say, except they are amazing, they are inspirational, and they bring us so much joy.
“Fostering is a journey, and it is wonderful how much difference you can make to a child’s life. Kent needs more people who care to become foster carers. If you want to find out more about fostering, look up FosterWiki.com which is an excellent resource.
“Lastly we would like to congratulate everyone who received awards.”
While The Caldecott Foundation has congratulated the pair on the honour, describing them as “absolute rocks to the children and young people they care for”, the couple has also received glowing reviews from those who have been placed under their care.
One such child, a boy named Nathan, secretly nominated the couple for the national Fostertalk Award while he was under their care at the age of 17.
Nathan commented: “Out of their own generosity, they [Carol and Derek] loved me and cared for me - I couldn’t dream of having a better family. They love me so much and I couldn’t love them more.”
Photo by Kevin Delvecchio on Unsplash
