Many people I speak to don’t realise just how rewarding being a foster carer is or even that the role can be done part time and to fit around other commitments.
To share with you her families’ experiences, I’ve invited Suffolk Foster Carer, Ellie to talk about life as a foster carer.
Why did you decide to become a foster carer?
My mum started fostering 17 years ago as a single carer and I was her main support network. Then myself and my husband, Mark, were approached by the agency and they said, why don’t you get approved!
When we got approved, we were asked to foster two children and we just kind of carried on from there. That was 15 years ago!
How would you sum up fostering?
It is very rewarding; I think we’d all say that we do really love the children that we foster. We become quite attached to them and even though they don’t always stay with us for long, we feel that we’ve made a real impact in their lives and to their future even though you don’t always see that right away.
How does fostering fit around the rest of your family?
Every time a young person moves on we have a little family chat about what we enjoyed, what we didn’t enjoy and if we want to continue.
My children are brilliant. They offer me more strength than I have myself and they’re the ones that will say – “oh well, shall we do something nice and see if someone wants some help in a few weeks’ time”.
What do you see when you foster children in terms of progress and how does that feel?
We fostered a child, who we’ve since adopted, and when she first came to us people said she’d never talk or walk, but we got her walking and signing, and she was in mainstream school.
The children we foster really need us to deliver care and love and it makes us happy when we see the children accomplishing little milestones.
We are there for our foster children when it is tough at the beginning and sometimes the rewards don’t come easily but when you do start to see them it can be a real wow moment. You can really see the transformation in children from when they arrive to when they leave and its really rewarding to know you have made such an impact on their lives.
Do you hear from any of the children you’ve fostered in the past?
There are children I looked after 10 years ago who still message me now. They say that they appreciate that we were there to care for them and fight their corner.
At the time they don’t always see that we are the safe and kind people trying to help as we are the ones putting the rules in place and setting boundaries. However, when they become older and/or have a child themselves they often reflect and realise that we were there to help and provided a safe loving home environment that they may not have had previously.
How important is your support network and Suffolk Fostering Service?
I have a huge community of foster carers that I’m friends with and that is a huge support as you are all experiencing similar things.
When someone is newly approved, they get put in contact with someone who’s more established and more experienced. This is really helpful even for things like paperwork – how do I fill in that mileage form – or what exactly is expected of me?”
My supervising social workers have also been really supportive and readily available throughout our whole journey. There’s a weekly newsletter that comes out as well that has lots of tools and training which gives us all the information we need. I love it.
How long do you see yourself fostering for?
I’ll know when the time is right to give up fostering – it’s when it doesn’t make me want to get out of bed in the morning. That time’s definitely not come yet!
If you’re looking for a rewarding career with excellent benefits and ongoing support - or know someone who is - then help us provide loving homes for children in Suffolk. Get in touch and find out more. Request your free fostering pack. Visit suffolk.gov.uk/foster or call 01473 264800.
