Helping children to move from fear to trust

We love sharing our foster carer’s stories and young people’s stories. They bring to life what it’s like to be a foster carer and the incredible difference that can be made to a child’s future.

Children come into foster care for many different reasons and each placement is very individual. Being a foster carer is both incredibly rewarding and challenging at the same time, and this is something we often talk about. But it’s also hard to imagine what it’s like for a child coming into foster care. Whilst foster carers work hard every day to build security and trust; children too have to try to learn to allow themselves to become open to that love and to trust. When this happens, foster carers often describe this as the absolute best feeling in the world and something that makes every moment worthwhile.

One of our supervising social workers tells us here about L and just how far he has come with the unrelenting support, love and care from his foster carers, Bev and Sam.

L is a young man who has now lived with his foster carers Bev and Sam for the past 5 years.

L has many heath issues; sensory needs, learning difficulties, hypermobility, epilepsy and many other physical and mental health challenges.. L is also living with trauma. Bev and Sam have provided L with a secure base for him to regress in order to manage the angry outbursts that he initially presented with. They have provided him with a loving home, patience, care and an ability to trust, as well as meeting all of his physical needs. 

Bev and Sam’s job is 24/7 with hospital appointments, being there for L when he has a seizure and ensuring that he is in education and achieving.

The positivity of Bev and Sam seeps through into L and despite everything that he is faced with, he has a constant smile on his face.

He is mischievous, loving and caring and always sees the positive in everything. L and Bev recently did a sponsored walk together to raise money for an epilepsy charity and despite L's mobility issues, he did it!!

L is a creative young person who will sit and focus on arts and crafts for hours, which is something that he would not have been able to do 4/5 years ago. L has created some amazing figures and loves nothing more than showing them off so I am sure he will be happy to know I have shared some of his work.  The picture L has drawn, with the rainbow, was described by him as L as a robot with robot hands and it’s how he feels, all happy like a rainbow.

L has such a positive future ahead of him and this is all thanks to Bev and Sam who have committed the last 5 years of their lives to support, love and rebuild what was once a very sad little boy.

There are so many children like L, in need of a loving and safe home to help them to reach their potential and learn to open themselves to be loved and to trust. If you think you might be able to help a child by opening your home and your heart, please get in touch.