Foster carers come in many different shapes and sizes, from all sorts of backgrounds.
The main thing they have in common is that every foster carer has the time and care to look after another person’s child.
Our foster carers love to share their journey and their voices are so important to us. These care stories are a great opportunity to learn more about fostering, and how it could fit into your life. Our friendly team can also help to answer any questions about fostering in a quick, no-obligation phone call. You can book a call back here.
"It is lovely to see them grow up, succeed and have a happy life - knowing you have been part of it."
We’ve included a few care stories below but if you would like to see our full library of care stories, you can view them here.
Christine - award-winning and inspiring foster carer
Christine has been a foster carer for over 47 years and in that time has fostered more than 250 babies and children from the Rotherham area. The children have stayed with her for varying lengths of time - from a weekend to as long as 5 and a half years.
Christine explains: “the fact that the first child we ever fostered is now 47, has her own family and is a grandma is just amazing. It is lovely to see them grow up, succeed and have a happy life - knowing you have been part of it.”
In November 2019, Christine received an MBE from the Duke of Cambridge for her services to fostering. “I am so proud to get this recognition, but it’s not what I do it for. I do it because I love doing it”.
Christine continued to foster even though she has had to overcome her fair share of adversity and we admire her determination to help her community. Read more here.
Poppy and Dale celebrate diversity
Poppy and Dale have been fostering for 38 years. The couple say their proudest moment was adopting 6 of their looked after children. “This made all our lives complete. Helping to place many children with other adoptive parents has been wonderful too”.
The couple have completed a number of courses through Fostering Rotherham, including courses in religion, heritage and ethnicity. The courses have enabled Poppy and Dale to better support their looked after children. Poppy even gained an NVQ in Equality and Diversity, explaining. “It all helps with our learning and development as foster carers”.
“The children currently in our care are Muslim”, explains Dale. “We respect the wishes of their family. We ensure our meat is Halal, and celebrate Eid together as a family”.
You can read more about Poppy and Dale’s experience of training and support here.
“We respect the wishes of their family. We ensure our meat is Halal, and celebrate Eid together as a family”.
Amanda & Martin chose to transfer to us
Amanda and Martin have been foster carers for 10 years, mostly caring for older children and teenagers. They started out fostering with an independent fostering agency (IFA).
Amanda and Martin said they felt that the focus of the IFA had changed and that “it was more about the money than the welfare of the children.”
They decided to find out more about working with a local authority. The couple were pleased with the support they received from Fostering Rotherham during the transfer and haven’t looked back since transferring to us 6 years ago.
Martin and Amanda have mainly chosen to foster older children and their advice to anyone considering following in their footsteps is to be resilient because, as Martin says, “The biggest thing you can do for these kids is just be there for them.”
You can read more about Amanda and Martin’s transfer experience and their fostering experience with us here.
Online fostering information events
We hold regular online information events. The events are for anyone who is interested in becoming a foster carer. During the event, you will hear about the process of becoming a foster carer and the difference our foster carers make to local children's lives. You will have the opportunity to hear from our existing foster carers who will be sharing their experiences of fostering.
It's easy to sign up and you don't need to download any software to join us.
View our upcoming events here.
Have a chat with us
If you can provide space in a loving home for a Rotherham child or teenager, we would love to hear from you. Book a call back and see how fostering could work for you.