Fostering had always been something Beth had thought about. An opportunity arose for her to house some Norwegian students on a school trip, and this is when she realised how easily her, and her family adapted to having people in their house who are not family members. “It was a great experience; we all really enjoyed sharing our home with other children. This encouraged me and my family to pursue fostering”.
Initially Beth fostered with an agency, but three years into it realised it wasn’t working out for her and her family. Her youngest child was 11 at the time and she felt they were not being matched with the right children and did not have the support available for them so decided to transfer to Foster Wales Cardiff.
“I love my job, getting involved with the children, getting them on the right academic path, seeing them enjoying a normal life and knowing that you are providing that for them.”
Beth loves the rewards of being a foster carer and says sometimes it is the smaller wins that are just as great “Never expect gratitude but you’ll find it in ways that you are not expecting such as a thank you or a smile.” She also wants to address the challenges along the way.
“you must be realistic, when I first started fostering, I thought I was going to be the next Julie Andrews, running around all smiley with the children but it’s not always rosy.”
All foster carers have a supervising social worker and full 24 hours support should they need it. “Cardiff local authority have been absolutely brilliant, and I can’t speak highly enough of my supervising social worker.”
Beth and her family have fostered 10 children in total plus a couple of respite placements. If Beth’s story has inspired you, and you would like to know more about becoming a foster carer, please contact us today.
want to start your own fostering journey?
If reading Beth’s story has inspired you to think about becoming a foster carer, then we’d love to hear from you.
Living in Cardiff, Wales? Send us a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
If you live elsewhere in Wales, visit the Foster Wales website where you can find all the information and contact your local authority service.
