Fostering benefits children and adults, says carer

A woman who has been a foster carer for more than 20 years has urged others to consider the role and understand the life-changing impact they could have on vulnerable young people.

Earlier this month, the government announced that fostering rules would be relaxed and red tape would be cut to create 10,000 new places for vulnerable children in England.

Julie Thomas, from Telford, was working in residential care when she met her first ever foster child, a 16 year-old boy.

"Seeing how a young person was when they first moved in, to seeing them many years later - that shows how we both worked together and made their lives better," she said.

But she said the relationship was not just one-way, adding that fostering had had as much a positive effect on her life as the child's.

That first boy is now 36, with his own family, and Thomas said she was still in touch with him.

She said fostering had also taught her to be more empathetic and understanding about issues like child abuse.

"I've seen how it affects a child," she said.

The government said more young people were ending up in children's homes rather than being placed with foster families because of a "critical shortage" of carers.

"The good days outweigh the bad, and to see how much of a difference we can make to a child's life - it's that feeling of worth for both sides," she said.

"You've got to be prepared to open your home and your heart to these people and understand the trauma that they've been through... and just help them as much as you can and help them fly the nest.

Thomas believes that a lot of people do not go into foster care because of misconceptions, and encouraged people to find out more if they were interested.

"You haven't got to be married or in a partnership to foster, you can be single, it doesn't matter about your sexuality," she said.

"You haven't got to have your own home, you can rent, as long as you have a spare bedroom - happy days."

She said when she began fostering, carers were told they could not work full-time.

However, the new government plans said it would become easier for full-time workers to become foster carers.

Clearer guidelines are also being drawn up to encourage people from diverse backgrounds to get involved.

"If you want to foster, pick up the phone and ask questions, see what you want to do, see what you get out of it," Thomas said.

"If you've got love to give and a spare bedroom then do it."

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