A Great British Bake Off finalist was among the special guests at the Camden Foster Carers Awards – the first in three years.

Crystelle Pereira, a multilingual north Londoner, gave awards to Camden foster carers who have served the borough’s looked after children for five, 10, 15, 20 and more than 25 years.

It was also the night that the winner of a new award in memory of Sally Joseph, Camden Council’s long-serving head of service for children’s care provision who died in 2021, was announced.

Ham & High: Foster carer Tsega Ghebremichael receives the Sally Joseph Award from Camden mayor Cllr Nasim Ali and deputy major Cllr Nazma RahmanFoster carer Tsega Ghebremichael receives the Sally Joseph Award from Camden mayor Cllr Nasim Ali and deputy major Cllr Nazma Rahman (Image: Camden Council)

Mayor of Camden Cllr Nasim Ali OBE and deputy mayor Cllr Nazma Rahman presented the award, which includes a £1,000 grant, to Tsega Ghebremichael, who has been a foster carer for Camden since 2015, after transferring from a fostering agency.

Jonny Persoff, her supervising social worker at Camden, said he "cannot put into words how incredible she is".

He added: "On more than one occasion, social workers have said that if they had been fostered, they would want Tsega as their carer.”

Tsega said: "I did not expect this. I was shocked but very proud to receive this award in Sally’s name."