Andrea, a foster carer with Warwickshire County Council has been supporting Warwickshire’s children in care for over 25 years.
Andrea said: “I was introduced to fostering through my children. When they were younger they would play with another group of children on our street. One day the children were no longer around and I found out they had been taken in to foster care. I contacted the foster carer to arrange for them to come over for tea one night and when I took the children back the foster carer told me about fostering and what it was like. I didn’t know anything about fostering until then, but I had a spare room and thought I’d give it a go.
“The assessment process was really thorough, but also necessary. As a foster carer you are responsible for looking after other people’s children and the fostering team need to be able to give you the right support and best match you with the children in care”.
“The first half of my career was fostering younger children, similar in age to my own children. As my children grew up I then began to foster teenagers and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and that’s the type of fostering that I continue to do today”.
“You need a different set of skills to support the unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people, they often don’t speak English and have a different cultural background. As a family we do our best to cater for their religion and their culture and we converse with them the best we can so they feel comfortable in our home and also help them to integrate into society in a positive way”.
“All the children I look after are Muslim and I make every effort to cater to their religious requirements but they also have a choice – some of the children have left their country due to their religion being forced on them, so I allow them the freedom to choose whether they want to practice their religion or not".
“While the young people are with me, part of my role is to support them to independence. I introduce them to the daily running of a household, time management and balancing different commitments such as education, work, home life and budgeting.”
Councillor Jeff Morgan, portfolio holder for Children and Families added: “Warwickshire foster carers provide safety and stability, not just to Warwickshire’s children but also to asylum-seeking young people coming to the county. Our fostering team is here to support our foster carers so they can provide the best support for the children in their care with regular meetings, professional support, ongoing training and links to peer support groups – we want to help our carers be the best they can be for the children in Warwickshire.”
Andrea continued: “When you become a foster carer your family will change – it has to - because fostering is about being a family and support unit for each other, but one that is fluid, that grows and evolves all the time.”
“Fostering has changed my life completely, from the assessment onwards I’ve grown and explored myself. I’ve learnt something new almost every day over the past 25 years. Fostering has meant that my own children have grown up in an environment of caring and sharing. They have grown up to be beautiful people who have a great knowledge of social issues and continue to help people in the community – and as a parent that makes me really proud.”
“I find fostering really fulfilling, giving warm care to children and young people. There is no better feeling than being together as a family and making a positive change to a young person’s life. Through foster care you can also help parents who are struggling so they have that time to rebuild themselves and you can be a part of helping to put families back together.”
Andrea and her family are one of 150 Warwickshire fostering households caring for children and young people. Foster carers offer stability and support to vulnerable children and young people who can't be with their own families. Warwickshire is looking for more people to join this network of passionate and caring individuals just like Andrea - could this be you?
To find out more about fostering and the many different ways you can get involved with Warwickshire County Council, visit warwickshire.gov.uk/fostering, call 0800 408 1556 or find us on Facebook @WarwickshireFostering.