We had a chat with Clare, one of our potential Foster Parents about her journey into fostering. It was lovely to find out more about how Clare’s parents and upbringing was a big inspiration for her becoming a foster parent. We are so pleased that Clare is looking to become part of the Changing Futures Fostering family.
What inspired you to want to become a Foster Parent?
Up until 2018 I had my own catering business run from my home premises and my house was always hustle and bustle with staff, family, kids and their friends. When my business closed it was a time for me.
Growing up my parents mentioned a few times about wanting to be foster parents. Our house growing up was always full of other peoples kids, when my mam wasn’t working our friends were round and it was great. When it was mentioned to us as kids we were so up for it but unfortunately our house wasn’t big enough.
My house is the same as when I was growing up, there are lots of other peoples children around, I love the ‘busyness’ of it all!
How did you know now was the right time to foster?
I have often broached the subject with my husband over the years but at the times we had our own businesses and that took up a lot of our spare time. I knew I’d need to make a decision to stop doing my business but there was never a right time. In the end I took a year to myself to work out what I wanted to do. I volunteered for a couple of charities and enjoyed working with kids and adults, crafting, chatting, supporting and then corona hit.
I realised this was the time. and my husband agreed! As he pointed out, Iv always helped people who have needed my support and now there’s nothing in my way. We had always told our kids we had wanted to do it so it wasn’t a shock when we said we were actually going to do it this time.
How did you start your fostering journey?
Having been interested in fostering for years I’ve always clicked on the ads if I saw one and once you do it once you see them on your social media. It had always been a bitter sweet reminder of me wanting to do it. More recently I saw was a news article on Changing Futures Fostering so I applied for more information and here we are!
What are you most looking forward too?
I am excited at the thought of being able to bond enough with a child that they can feel safe and cared for with us as a family. At the moment that might be a very simplistic ideal and I know it wont be quite so straight forward but I know the journey will be rewarding.
What would you say to someone else who was thinking becoming a foster parent?
There with be people that try to scare you away with horror stories of children in care. If you think you have the ability to look past what you see and still feel able to help someone, that’s why you do it.
The training you get at Changing Futures Fostering is also very therapeutic to you and your own family. It helps you understand each others behaviour, behaviours that you have lived with forever. It’s been an added bonus for us as we have got so much out of that! I’m excited to see where all this takes us.
We are looking to recruit more foster parents from across the North East into our agency! That is people living in Teesside but also surrounding areas like Newcastle, Gateshead, Durham and Guisborough. To find out more about our therapeutic training and how you will be supported to be a fantastic foster parent, just click the orange button!