Over the years I’ve always worked with children and found it very rewarding so when my work started to quieten down, my husband and I decided to look into fostering. We had a spare room, and plenty of experience with children. Training is also provided by Hampshire County Council so that’s not essential!
We provide specialist respite care, now called Home from Home, and look after children with complex needs. Like many people, we have busy lives, and decided we were happy to dedicate one weekend a month to fostering.
We went through the assessment process with a social worker and were soon ready to meet the first child we would be looking after! We looked after Daniel one weekend a month for four years, and really enjoyed it. We currently care for Samantha, who has cerebral palsy. We’ve learnt all about Samantha’s condition through her and her parents and have got to know the whole family. We have all sorts of fun days out with her; we go to the beach, the zoo, to various parks and playgrounds, the farm and sometimes the cinema too. We’ll eat out together occasionally as well.
We love our weekends with Samantha, we have a lot of fun together and like knowing that her parents are getting a much-needed break from the high provision of care that’s required. If you’re thinking about fostering we’d say, go for it!
Names have been changed