M.S & L.S
A Foster Family Tells Their Story
Since my family started fostering with Five Rivers Fostering 2 & 1/2 years ago, it has become a very big, but normal part of my everyday life. I feel good that my family foster because it makes me feel like a better person helping others less fortunate than us, and it has also brought me closer to my family. Since we started fostering, we have had lots of children from different backgrounds come to stay with us, some have stayed with us for a short time, others for longer and some children come to stay with us regularly on respite. While we have had some ups and downs along the way, fostering has been a really good experience for me.
M.S, 13
While fostering is different for everyone and no two placements are the same, my experience has been a positive one that makes me feel good because I know that my family are helping people. I can’t really remember a time when my family didn’t foster because for me family life hasn’t changed that much at all, we still do all the things we used to do together as a family, but now there are other children with us. Since we have fostered, I have met people from different backgrounds that I normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to talk to. When we get a call that someone is coming to stay with us, I sometimes feel nervous that I might know the person who is coming to stay and I think that might be little bit awkward and uncomfortable for both of us but that is part of fostering and I always try to make the person welcome into our home. Through fostering I have learned to share and to open my home to other people and I am comfortable with people coming to stay and also leaving our home, whereas before we fostered I wouldn’t have been able to. I have made friends with other children who foster and have found that it is really helpful to be friends with and to be able to talk to people who understand what it is like to foster. Even though fostering doesn’t really affect my everyday life, I do find that I am more understanding and more aware of people’s situations and that other people could be going through difficult times. I would recommend fostering, as it has been a very positive experience for me.
L.S, 15
