ARE YOU THE CORRIE CLASS OF 2010?

THINK you can dream up a more dastardly villain than Tony Gordon or a more lovable rogue than Steve McDonald, or even a more dramatic storyline than Gail McIntyre’s wrongful imprisonment?

Well then here’s your chance to shine.  Imperial Leather is one of the 5 Best of British brands that has teamed up with Coronation Street for its 50th anniversary campaign. To celebrate, Imperial Leather has joined forces with Michelle Keegan, who plays Tina in the soap, and Jonathan Harvey and Jan McVerry from Corrie’s scriptwriting team, to offer school children across the UK the chance to win an exclusive scriptwriting workshop at their school, plus their teacher could win a Corrie VIP day, to include a set tour and taking part in the filming of a scene.

The Corrie Class of 2010 is a unique competition inviting Year 9 and Year 10 classes in Merseyside to create a new character and storyline with their teachers. Entries will be judged by the Corrie scriptwriting team as well as a member of the cast with the winning school receiving this once in a lifetime prize.

Caroline Reynolds, Senior Brand Manager for Imperial Leather says:- “We’re thrilled to be working together with the team at Coronation Street on our Corrie Class of 2010 competition.  It’s a great initiative and one which we hope people will get excited about."

Kieran Roberts, Executive Producer for Coronation Street, adds:- "Corrie is renowned for strong, memorable characters and riveting storylines making this a fantastic competition for the team to be involved with.  It's also a great opportunity for teachers and students to get advice and feedback from some of the best scriptwriters in the business, and who knows; maybe we'll find the writing talent of the future!"

Runners up will receive a tour of the Corrie set with their class and the five class finalists will receive an original signed Corrie script for their school.

To enter, schools simply need to register their interest online by the end of May by visiting:- imperialleather.co.uk/corrie.  An entry pack is available online which will provide all of the materials for teachers to guide their lessons including some top tips from the Corrie scriptwriting team themselves, biogs, exclusive insights into characters and instructions on how to layout and write the episode.  The competition closes on 9 July 2010 and winners will be announced in September.

HUGE PRESSURE ON FOSTERING DRIVES CALL FOR MORE FOSTER CARERS

FOSTERING IN England and Wales is under increasing pressure due to the unprecedented rise in numbers of children needing foster care and the ongoing shortage of foster carers, the Fostering Network is warning today with the launch of Foster Care Fortnight.  The campaign, which runs from 17 May to 30 May 2010, highlights the shortage of 10,000 foster families across the UK. Under the strapline Do you have the skills to foster? it aims to encourage people with the right skills and qualities to consider a career in fostering.

Market research carried out by the charity looked at the impact of thousands more children needing foster care given the ongoing shortage of foster families, and found that in the past 12 months:-

► 82% of local authorities saw a rise in the number of children needing foster homes in 2009-10, building on the 5% rise in 2008-09. 33% needed to find families for more than 50 additional children in 2009-10.

► 58% of local authorities have found it even more difficult than usual to find the right homes for children.

► There is a particular need for more foster carers for teenagers and children under four.

► 42% of foster carers have looked after a child outside their area of expertise (for example, a foster carer who is trained and approved to look after teenagers having to take in a baby).

Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the Fostering Network, said:- “Fostering services had been making progress in recruiting more foster carers and finding children the right foster family, but this has clearly been pushed back by the unprecedented rise in children coming into foster care. Fostering services are working really hard to find the right foster family for every child, but with such a shortage of foster carers they are faced with a huge challenge.  In some areas there are simply no spare beds. Children are being sent further away from their schools and friends, and sometimes to foster carers who don’t have the skills and experience to deal with the child’s specific needs. Some local authorities are saying that it is the worst it has ever been.  Fostering services urgently need more people with the right skills and qualities to come forward to foster, and they need them now, so children don’t lose out.”