Our stories

Natalie and her husband have been fostering for eight months. In that time they have given respite care twice for one little girl, and have been looking after a little boy since he was born.

Craig and his husband Dave have been foster carers for almost 3 years. In that time they have fostered one child who has lived with them for the duration of their time as foster carers. Having worked in a youth hostel, Craig always knew that working with young people in need would be a big part of his life. Craig explains that their decision to become foster carers was an easy one: “being married and having a spare room, the topic of children inevitably came up, we thought about our options and fostering just seemed ideal. We could provide a family environment and also try to make a difference, not just for ourselves, but for children and their birth families”.

Emma has been fostering for six years and in that time has looked after 27 children and young people in the Rotherham area, ranging from birth to teenagers, providing emergency care, respite care, and short-term placements.

After volunteering at her local Sure Start Children’s Centre, mother Samantha made the rewarding leap to become a foster carer. Here she explains how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted life for her family and their looked-after-child.

Steph and her family have only been foster carers for four months, but Steph says in that time the free courses and support available from the Fostering Rotherham Team have helped them gain a “wealth of knowledge” to enable them to care for children.

Once Christine made the choice to go from owning and running a baby stall to being a foster parent, she never looked back. Now she cares for two teenagers and her fostering family is her number one priority. Lockdown has brought its own challenges, but it's also been a time of coming together.

As a supermarket employee, Vicky is always going the extra mile to help people. During one of her shifts, Vicky found herself talking to an elderly lady, holding her hand, and helping with her shopping. This experience made Vicky realise that she wanted to do more to help the most vulnerable.

Each October, we join the The Fostering Network in recognising, thanking and rewarding children and young people for the important role they play in welcoming fostered children into their families. Earlier this month we had the privilege of speaking to birth siblings Aidan, Callum, Josh and Sadie to discover why they love being part of a fostering family.

Here at Fostering Rotherham, the wellbeing of the children and young people in our care is our ultimate priority. We strive to promote the importance of developing a positive identity with our looked after children and encourage children and carers to embrace diversity in our community. We provide carers with specialist support and appropriate training for children in care who may have a different cultural heritage or religion to their own. Read on for Poppy and Dale’s fostering story as they share their experience of fostering children from a range of diverse backgrounds.

With father’s day coming up, we spoke to some of our fantastic fostering fathers about their experience of father’s day as a foster carer.

Fearne had always wanted to be a foster carer, telling us “I have always wanted to foster, to be able to provide the best opportunities for children that may have not got what they deserved and can achieve and provide them with a welcoming and loving home.”

Lauren and Andrew have three pets in their home: April, a small short haired English black and white rescue cat, Trixie, who’s a Greyhound/whippet cross, and Nibbles, a soft fluffy black rabbit. Lauren and Andrew firmly believe that “pets have so many positives and are great for breaking the ice. They are also great for teaching a child responsibility and creating a sense of belonging. Pets allow them [the foster children] to be kids again and to have fun without coming to any harm”.

Brian is a single foster carer of two children in Rotherham. He was never worried being single might reduce his chances of being able to foster and although it comes with its challenges, he has a good support network of foster carers.

Lisa has been fostering for nearly four years. When Lisa first started fostering,  initially she just wanted to focus on task centred fostering.  Task centred foster care, also known as short term foster care, can range from a one night stay to a period of up to two years while the local authority assesses what the best next steps are for the child’s future care. However, Lisa is now hoping to offer more long term placements alongside the task centered care and recently spoke to us about her journey to becoming a foster carer.

Donna is a single foster carer who also works full-time. Donna has built up a valuable support network over the years: she has a neighbour who is also a foster carer who supports her, she has also made friends with a number of other local foster carers. Donna recently spoke to us about how she has found fostering as a single carer.

Jasmine (51) and Anthony (54) have been fostering for three and a half years. They have no birth children of their own but have always enjoyed the company of children. Anthony was previously an HGV driver in the building industry. Jasmine was a primary school teacher and felt that she got along well with the older children in her class and had a good rapport with them. Jasmine and Anthony recently spoke to us about the fantastic support that they have received from the Mockingbird Hub.

Sara and Dennis are Level 4 foster carers, they have a 16 year old son and have been fostering for eight years.  Sara previously worked in the textile industry and travelled the world which meant that she was away from home a lot.  The couple had always wanted to foster but Sara’s job meant that it wasn’t practical. When Sara was made redundant the family saw it as the perfect opportunity to apply to become foster carers.

Mel and Jamie have a 15 year old daughter and had been considering fostering for a number of years, but the timing was never quite right.  Mel then became a full time carer for her mother who was diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, Mel’s mother passed away, and six months after the death of Mel’s mother, the family thought that it was the right time to look into fostering.

Emma has been a foster carer for 5 years.  Emma recently spoke to us about her first year as a foster carer which we hope will both enlighten and reassure any new or potential foster carers.

Christine, recently received an MBE from The Duke of Cambridge for her services to fostering.  She has been a foster carer for over 44 years and in that time has fostered more than 250 babies and children from the Rotherham area.

“Most of the children we have had are still in contact with us, indeed three of them come monthly to visit us. I am proud that we have given them all love and attention and by doing so given them pride and belief in themselves.”

“Seeing the changes over the months we've had them is really good. Plus seeing their little faces smiling when they see us is so rewarding. We feel like we are doing something right too.”

“I have only had one placement but I am pleased to have been able to get to know one child over 7 years and to know that my part in his development has been and continues to be important and valued.”