The time was right to foster

In our latest blog post, Karen talks about why she and her partner thought the time was right to foster, how St Christopher’s has supported them and how her previous childcare experience has helped.

Anthony and I had thought about fostering whilst our children were young but they were not fully on-board with the idea so now two of our three children have flown the nest we started to have the discussion again. We felt it was the right time as our son, Charley, is 16 and was ok with the idea as it had to be a family decision.

I have been a primary school teacher for 10 years and was beginning to feel that the child only matters if they perform well at school. Seeing many Looked After Children come in to the school I thought my family could make a real difference to the lives of some young people and we could also make a positive difference to them with our experience as parents and educators. My children are excellent role models for young people. Two have their own families and Charley is a hard-working student who is very laid-back.

St Christopher's was the first agency we approached and it felt right for us. They have been very supportive and we have no doubt that we have made the right decision. All the training and support from the fostering team has helped us through some difficult times for our foster child. They have helped us make decisions which, without their knowledge, we wouldn't have been prepared for.

I have had relationships with social services professionally so knew about their role but have at times been frustrated with communication with the child's social worker, which has sometimes been one sided. I know through experience though that this isn't always the case and our supervising social worker at St Christopher's has been brilliant with advice and following-up decisions made by the social worker.

On the whole it has made our family stronger and has enriched the child's life in a small way to enable them to succeed in the future.

If you think you could foster a child, like Karen and Anthony get in touch by calling 0800 234 6282 or complete our online enquiry form.