P.F, D.F & A.F

Before starting out as a family that fosters my brothers and I all had a similar idea of what it would be like, we all thought that we would be extending our family and my brothers and I were excited to do so. We have gained some truly positives experiences that could only be acquired through fostering, such as being able to discuss life experiences with children and young adults from many walks of life and having our eyes truly opened to how lucky we are to have the family we do and how proud we should be of our parents for wanting to open our family up to those who are not as fortunate as we are.

Having been in a family that fosters now for 3 years, it has been interesting to seeing the different sides of fostering such as short term, long term and emergency placement. Each brings their own challenges and rewards for both our parents and ourselves. Understanding and accepting that it was not all going to be ‘sunshine and daisy’s’ as such was vital as a family who fosters as the children who come to your home are often from very difficult backgrounds. Acknowledging that fact, we have gained an approach to conversations which is much more considerate to other people than it would have been if we had not had the chance to experience fostering. My brothers and I feel truly privileged to have met all the people that have come through our door whether it was only for a day or in the case of our long-term foster brother for 3 years so far. If we had not been given the chance to experience being part of a family that fosters we genuinely think that we would have missed out on some truly beneficial experiences and hope to continue to add to our experiences for years to come.