We started our assessment to be short breaks carers in May 2024 and went to panel in November. It was six months of intense scrutiny of our lives and at times we felt it was becoming too intrusive. However, at all times we knew that if it was our children who were going to be put with foster carers, we would want to know that everything had been done to ensure they were suitable and safe people and so we continued with the process. We were able to choose how often and for how long, we saw the assessing social worker, so could take things at our own pace if it got too intense.
We had to go over parts of our lives that may have been painful or emotional but it never felt like we were being pushed too hard or too far and our assessing social worker was always very considerate.
We were approved to foster in December 2024 and after a few hiccups and false starts we have been matched with two siblings and their foster carers who all need a bit of a break every so often. We started caring for them in August; they come to us once a month from Friday to Sunday and we spend the weekend doing fun stuff that we’ve stopped doing since our own children left home such as, going to the swimming baths and on the slides, boating in a park or cycling with a picnic and we’ve visited more children’s playgrounds in those three months than we have done in the last ten years! We ask them for ideas on what to do but also use our own knowledge of local activities to help us decide our itinerary for each weekend. This weekend past we spent Saturday afternoon exploring all the room sets in Ikea- not something we’d have done normally but actually, it was fun!
Sometimes they are hard work and it can be stressful but we know that they love coming to us and their foster parents really appreciate the opportunity to have some time to themselves. It feels like we are doing a good thing, whilst also having fun with them and when we asked them how we could make it better they said by having more time with us so I guess we’re doing something right!
Want to take the next step or find out more?
Follow on Facebook and Instagram for stories, updates, and events
Inspired by this story? Let us know! We’d love to hear what resonated with you.