Blogs
Joe is one of the many teenagers who turned their life around entirely after coming into foster care. He came a long way from not having a dream to now wanting to take on Sir Ben Ainslie, one of his biggest role models. Here Joe talks about his career plans as a sailor and why he sees foster carers as game changing for young people’s futures.
For four years Kerry* has fostered babies and toddlers with her husband. Here she explains why she supports our Keep Connected campaign and feels passionately that transitions within and out of the care system must focus on children’s needs and protect their relationships with their foster carers.
BUT - it’s a short word with so much power. It can change the tone of a sentence, a conversation, a meeting. It can suck the wind from your sails. And I’m fed up with hearing it in relation to fostering.
Dorcas came into foster care when she was 14. Three years later, aged 17, she has received an offer from Oxford University to study law. She tells us how she decided to take her future into her own hands, and what it needed to defy the statistics about care leavers.
The role played by foster carers has never been more important. Three-quarters of children in care are in foster care, and with a rising number of children entering the care system, improving the experience of care and raising the outcomes of looked after children must start by ensuring foster care is the very best it can be.
With such importance placed on the role of foster carers, The Fostering Network carries out a survey of foster carers every two years. Over the past few years the report based on this survey – our State of the Nation’s Foster Care report – has become recognised as the most comprehensive insight into foster carers’ views of fostering in the UK.
Naomi Taylor, a creative for brand agency Mr President, came to our attention after being featured in Campaign – a magazine for the advertising and media industry. In the article she described hitting ‘rock bottom’ as a care leaver before getting her life back on track and winning a prestigious industry award. She also outlined her frustrations with the lack of opportunities and support afforded to care leavers.
When I fostered fourteen year old Stevie, whose story I tell in Finding Stevie, I had a sharp learning in curve in how to keep young people safe online. I learnt a lot and so did Stevie, unfortunately the hard way.
Here at The Fostering Network, we love fundraising! It’s the perfect opportunity to challenge yourself, try something new or take a hobby that little bit further while raising money to support those involved in fostering. Community fundraising is a vital source of funds for The Fostering Network but we understand that it can seem like a dauting task at first - what shall I sign up to? How? Who will sponsor me?
Kinship foster carer, Jenny, has overcome every hurdle with her grandchildren and is proud to see them thriving at university.
Jenny fought for the right to become a foster carer for her grandchildren, knowing it would help her to give them the best opportunities. A decade on and both her grandchildren are studying at university. Though there have been huge challenges in getting them there, the introduction of Staying Put in England and other support from the university have made it possible.
