“I don’t think of it as a job"
Chris and Debbie have been fostering for over 13 years and have fostered around 10 children, with most of these being long term/permanent placements.
Chris explains how fate has led him to foster 10 children in 13 years.
Chris and Debbie moved house, resulting in their son moving to a new college. It wasn’t long until he’d made a new set of friends, however, there was a friend who would come home with him and stay over more than you’d expect.
Addressing the situation, Chris said: “I asked the young boy if he had a home to go to, he said 'no' so I said he could stay with us. It wasn’t long until the college involved social services. The young boy was told he needed to do a ‘supported lodgings’ course before he was able to stay.”
A month later, the couple received a call asking if they could take on another child, which they were more than happy to. It was this experience that inspired them to go through the process to become foster parents.
Thirteen years later, Chris and Debbie have fostered around 10 children, with most of these being long-term and permanent foster placements.
They currently look after two brothers aged 9 and 11 and couldn’t be happier with their developments.
Chris commented: “I don’t think of it as a job. When you care for a child who has no life skills at all, right down to hygiene, and you’re able to teach them these simple things, it’s a massive achievement.
“I believe in getting the children outside a lot so we do things like climbing Snowdon. They absolutely love it and for us, it’s extremely rewarding to see them develop.”
The couple’s advice to anyone considering fostering would be to, “If you're thinking of fostering, do it because you want to change a child’s life. You need to be driven and want to give something back to society. Don’t think you won’t get the support, because you definitely will with ISP.”
“I feel so supported as an ISP foster parent. If there is anything I’m unsure of, there is always someone to ask - normally my fostering advisor, and the social workers are always on hand to listen or help too.”
Could you make a difference?
It’s estimated that fostering services need to recruit a further 5,900 foster families in the next 12 months in the UK.
If you’d like to learn more about the role of a foster parent, then please get in touch with our friendly team – we’d love to hear from you.
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