CAITLIN McCaffrey has been selected to compete in Miss Northern Ireland and is using her platform for a good cause.
The Maguiresbridge marketing student, was crowned Miss Dungannon at the third heat of the Miss Northern Ireland 2024 contest at The Gasworks, Dungannon.
The 21 year old wants to use her platform to raise awareness for something that is close to her heart.
“My family have been fostering children for seven years and we have had a lot of short term and long term placements, we have had two placements for the last six years who have stayed with us.“Fostering is something that isn’t spoken about enough here and in Northern Ireland 3,008 children were living with foster families on 31 March 2022. This is 83 per cent of the 3,624 children in care looked after away from home,” she explained.
Caitlin went on, “There are approximately 3,009 foster families in Northern Ireland, and there is always a need for more. “Children in foster care deserve the same life opportunities as their peers, including stable and lasting relationships, educational achievement and a positive experience of family life. “I want to use this platform to talk about fostering, raise awareness and encourage more people to consider it.”.
On 6 June Caitlin will take part in a sky dive to raise money for a charity called The Fostering Network, which Caitlin has seen first hand help and support children in foster care.
Caitlin will now go forward to the grand final in Belfast’s Europa Hotel on Monday 27 May and stand a chance of winning the coveted title of ‘Miss Northern Ireland 2024’.
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