Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
Foster Care Fortnight, running from 11th to 24th May, is a nationwide initiative aimed at celebrating foster carers while increasing public understanding of the profound impact fostering has on children’s lives. This year’s campaign centers on the theme “This is Fostering,” which highlights the day-to-day realities of fostering and emphasizes the crucial support foster carers provide to help children and young people flourish.
Sue and Paul’s experience with fostering began unexpectedly when Paul read an article about short breaks fostering and shared it with Sue. Before then, they had only been aware of adoption and full-time fostering, not realizing that short breaks fostering was an option. Following this discovery, the couple took steps to become approved short breaks foster carers within a few months, marking the beginning of a life-changing journey for them.
Their decision to foster was deeply informed by their own lives as parents of three neurodivergent boys. Recognizing the difficulties they faced in securing the right support and understanding for their children, Sue reflects, “We didn’t always understand what was behind the behaviour, and neither did school.” Their boys are doing well now, but Sue and Paul wanted to offer other families the kind of assistance they once needed. For them, short breaks fostering goes beyond mere childcare; it is about providing families with vital support and creating positive, memorable experiences for children.
The arrangement they chose fits well with their current family life, as they care for children aged four to ten alongside their three teenage sons, who are aged 14, 16, and 18. The older boys’ empathy, especially towards children with additional needs, has been a key part of their success. Sue and Paul describe the fostering assessment as rigorous but supportive, particularly noting the approachable and compassionate nature of their social worker, Chris. Their fostering panel even expressed admiration, saying, “We wish we could clone you,” a comment that left Sue feeling deeply moved. Through patience, empathy, and advocacy developed from their own experience, Sue and Paul feel equipped to make a meaningful difference for the children they care for. They emphasize that short breaks fostering—often just one weekend a month—can have a transformative effect on families, as long as the match between carer and child is right for everyone involved
Read the full article on Liverpool Express here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.