A FOSTERING scheme now used as a beacon of good practice across the country is celebrating eight successful years.

Called Staying Put, the North Yorkshire scheme gives young people the option of staying with their foster families until they are 21, rather than having to stand on their own feet as soon they reach 18.

The county council was one of the first pilot authorities to introduce the scheme in 2008 and, following its success, Staying Put is now funded by the Government, which pledged £40m over three years in 2014.

Up to 82 per cent of North Yorkshire’s 100 Staying Put young people are in, or have completed, further or higher education; some are in apprenticeships or other types of workplace learning and some are in full-time paid employment - double the national average for young people leaving the care system.

And eight care leavers graduated in the summer of 2015, one with a first class honours degree. Eleven young people are also studying at various universities, including Cambridge, Leeds, York and Edinburgh.

The county’s executive member for children’s services, Cllr Janet Sanderson, said: “The Staying Put programme is a priority for us. It supports our most vulnerable young people by enabling them to stay with their foster families at a critical time in their lives.

“This gives them continuity and stability, so they have the chance to achieve to the best of their ability and go on to get qualifications and skills that will help them build a fulfilling future.

“And the fact that so many of our families are happy to maintain their relationship with the young person in their care shows just how fulfilling an experience people find fostering an older child to be.”