Fostering can change your life

Sandra and Mick have been fostering for 7 years now. Take a minute to read a snippet of their story and consider if you would be interested in doing the same:

"Myself and my husband Mick started fostering seven years ago now, it’s hard to believe it’s already been seven years! What a journey we have had.

When fostering, the word journey is often used as it really is a journey you take with the child or children you care for. Every child is unique meaning every journey is different.

Over the last seven years, our fondest fostering memory is when we were blessed to have a beautiful boy, Jack, come into our lives. Jack settled very quickly and fitted right in. Jack’s stay was short term, and we always knew he would be returning to his birth family.

The thought of this may seem hard but once you realise that it is the best for the child, it really becomes a lot easier. Jack stayed with us for almost a year, the fun and memories are ones that we will cherish forever.

During his stay, Jack had regular contact with his family. We always supported his relationship with them and never judged. While we were all sad to see Jack go, we knew it was the best result for him and seeing his little face beam with joy brought us peace knowing he was happy to be back with his family.

We were extremely lucky to be able to continue to have a great relationship with him and his family with ongoing contact and communication with them all. We still see him regularly and it was a very positive experience for us. We know we made a difference in his life but the difference he made in ours is much more.

If you are thinking of fostering, our story shows you the difference you can make for a child and their family. It’s one of our proudest achievements that we supported a family to come together and helped them when they needed it most."

See fosteringfirstireland.ie for more.