Could you foster a child from your community?
Lynn and Gordon did – nearly 40 times!
The couple have spent the last 16 years helping to make a difference to the lives of nearly 40 Leicestershire young people by offering them loving, secure foster homes.
They have fostered around 20 young people on a longer-term basis and now focus on shorter-term respite work.
Here’s their story…
“Fostering is incredibly rewarding.
It has been wonderful to see the confidence in the young people we’ve looked after grow. We treat every child we foster as individuals. We work with them, care for them and embrace their qualities.
And when we make a break-through, it really is amazing.
Our son passed away when he was just 10 and that’s when we first considered fostering.
We remember having a conversation with him about it while watching a television campaign appealing for carers. He had suggested that was something we could consider as we had a spare room.
That stayed with us and we realised we wanted to help; we had a lot of give.
Our fostering journey has been helped thanks to ongoing support from the council. We have our own social worker, access to a 24 hour helpline and regular, ongoing training.
Being a foster carer has empowered me to do things I wouldn’t have done before – I now have the confidence to run a foster carer support group, for example.
If you have spare capacity and are able to give young people care, stability and take an interest in them, then please do get in touch with the team and find out more.” – Lynn
“Fostering is not always easy but once you have made a break-through the rewards are amazing.
When you see a young person grow in confidence and achieve things, it really is fantastic.” – Gordon
- You can find out more and hear from foster carers at regular ‘find out about fostering’ events that are held around the county and every three weeks at County Hall. Information on this, and fostering in general, can be found at: www.fosteringleicestershire.com
To speak to the fostering recruitment team call 0116 305 0505 or email fosteringandadoption@leics.gov.uk