SCORES of people have united to celebrate the anniversary of a pioneering project set up 21 years ago in Kidderminster.

The Break-Away and Dudley Shared Care Project, set up by the Barnardo's charity, originally began life from a small office in Burgage Lodge in 1985.

The aim was to find foster families for severely disabled children living in the former long-stay children's ward at the Mental Handicap Hospital in Lea Castle.

Now based in Dudley, the project has expanded - two decades on - to provide a range of permanent foster homes and short-term breaks for disabled children and their families, not only across the Wyre Forest area, but also across the West Midlands.

To mark the achievement, a celebratory event was held at the Black Country Museum in Dudley.

Special guest, actress Eva Fontaine, from BBC soap Doctors, presented certificates of recognition to local carers.

Julia Tanner, Barnardo's manager, said: "It's hard to believe, sometimes, how much things have changed since we started this project and what has been achieved. It's not being dramatic when I say that if it hadn't been for the commitment of the carers and staff we've had over the years, many of the children we've supported, particularly in the early days, would never have survived to adulthood or had the chance to enjoy family life.

"Even as recently as 1985, severely disabled children were living permanently on long-stay children's wards in mental hospitals and were considered, because of the severity of their disabilities, to be `unfosterable'."

The Barnardo's project was one of the first in the area to introduce a small allowance for carers to cover the cost of food, clothing and care for the children.

In 1987, the family link side of the service was also adopted to provide short breaks for parents with disabled children. Carers were trained and recruited within local communities to give children the chance to enjoy different activities, widen their social circle and to give parents a short break from caring.

That side of the project expanded and was soon incorporated in the Barnardo's Worcestershire Short Breaks Project. The Break-Away project moved to Dudley in 2002 and, in partnership with Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, added the short breaks service, called Dudley Shared Care Project.

For more information about how to become a foster carer in the Wyre Forest district, call 01384 458585.