Samantha and Jamie started talking early on in their relationship. They got married and had children but the desire to become a family that fostered never left them. They moved so they had 2 spare bedrooms and started the fostering application process.
I had always had the desire to help others and Jamie had had experience of being a step parent and wanted to make a difference to children who may need the support and care of others.
In the last 8 years, we have got married and had our own child, remained in our long-term employment but have continually discussed the idea of one day becoming a family that would foster.
Helping children and young people was something we had in common and we knew that we needed to make some changes to be able to be in the position to finally make the enquiry to move forward with the decision we had made – to become foster parents.
It became apparent that the property we lived in when we first started making enquiries about foster care was not suitable as we did not have a spare bedroom. Our local area was built up however, property markets in the local areas meant that we could potentially get a larger property in a more rural area and so we took the first step towards finding a new home.
Jamie and I made the move with the best interests of our child and potential future foster children at the forefront of our mind. We moved to be closer to the local park, woodlands and promote the opportunities for children to be outdoors and exploring.
Within 3 weeks of moving into our new property we arranged a visit from Capstone Foster Care. Throughout the assessment process as we were making our house a home and the property was assessed to the latest health and safety regulations.
We currently have 2 spare bedrooms and are hoping to care for sibling groups, we have made the changes we feel necessary to our employment, network and lifestyle in order to increase our availability and are very much looking forward to starting our fostering journey. We have waited a long time to get to here and now we are approved as foster carers we cannot wait to get started.
If fostering is something you have thought about for a while, call Capstone Foster Care and establish whether your circumstance is suitable – Capstone Foster Care see that ‘potential remains, circumstances change’.
Start the conversation today. Our team of friendly advisors are on hand to answer any foster care questions you may have. We can offer you honest and practical advice that can help you decide if becoming a foster carer is the right path for you.
