A SOCIAL worker has landed her dream job after joining a foster care agency in Royal Wotton Bassett.

Kelly Panes, 26, has wanted to become a social worker since she was just 14 years old, and after graduating from the university of Glamorgan in Cardiff, she spent three years dealing with every aspect of social care from family support to adoption.

Her experience has been described as “invaluable” by Matthew Roberts, chief executive of Community Foster Care, where she will now begin work as a supervising social worker.

Ms Panes' parents were foster carers before she was born and returned to fostering when she went to university, making her no stranger to the fostering process.

She said: “I’ve wanted to be a social worker since I was 14 – fostering has always been a part of my life and I’ve seen it from both sides. The great thing about Community Foster Care is that it’s totally child-centred.”

There are more than 400 children in care across Wiltshire but the county has a desperate shortage of foster carers.

Anyone who might be considering fostering can get in touch with Community Foster Care at www.communityfostercare.co.uk