Foster in the South West

Fostering South West represent a partnership among the 15 local council fostering services across the south west region, collaborating to recruit essential foster carers from a range of different backgrounds and circumstances to make a difference to looked after children in our communities.

As someone who has experience working in the Police Service, you already possess more transferrable skills than you might realise to care for a vulnerable child as a local council foster carer. You’ve dedicated your career to caring for others, making a significant impact for those at their time of need. Fostering a vulnerable young person could be another opportunity for you to make a profound difference and shape futures.

Tom is a foster carer for Gloucestershire County Council who has worked in the Police Service for 21 years, working in front line duties in response as well as specialist operations roles. He credits fostering for helping his career, “it’s helped me know what social services can offer in the way of protecting and safeguarding children. Within my role I unfortunately see children who may be subject to neglect and mistreatment in their home settings, so having this extra knowledge has been incredibly important.”

His fostering journey with his local council started five years ago, “along with my wife and family, we became mainstream foster carers. We have cared for various age groups from young children to teenagers. We have also done some respite care for single carers who’ve needed a bit more support.” Throughout this time, he has maintained his role undertaking active police duties, “it’s worked well (working and being a foster carer) as my wife has got the flexibility of working from home and does part time hours, allowing me to continue to work full time. We both work shifts and have two of our own children who attend school and college, life is busy, but we can manage this well.”

He credits his time in the police service for equipping him with the skills required to foster, “it’s helped me see things from another perspective, to be patient, understanding and non-judgemental.” When asked what his best moments during these five years has been, he reflects “there are lots of things to look back on. I enjoy seeing children flourish in the safe environment a carer can provide. Giving the child new experiences, like days out to the beach and theme parks and seeing the joy makes it all worthwhile. You can see the difference you're making.”

And his advice for anyone considering fostering for their local council, “talk to others already caring for children. Ask lots of questions to get a real understanding from people who do it day to day. Emergency service workers have lots of the required skills to foster and you can really make a difference if you have the passion and drive to change a child’s life.”

Local council foster carers benefit from enhanced support and resources, and an increased speed of matching as local councils prioritise finding children homes with their own foster carers first. As well as competitive fees and allowances. By fostering for your local council, it means you help keep children local, allowing them to continue living in the community they know with as little change as possible, as well as working directly with your communities to support the children in it.
If you would like to find out more about fostering opportunities with your local council and how you might get involved, just get in touch with the Fostering South West team today for a friendly, informal chat.

Visit:

www.fosterwithyourlocalcouncil.org.uk

for more information and to see our list of upcoming events,

or email

info@fosterwithyourlocalcouncil.org

to get in touch with a member of our team.