Fostering North Yorkshire team is getting ready to celebrate this year’s Foster Care Fortnight, which starts on 8 May. Liana is a very important part of one of our fostering families and she wanted us to be able to share her experiences with people who are thinking about starting their fostering journey with us.
She wanted to tell her story as the child of foster carers to reassure people who may be considering fostering during Foster Care Fortnight, which is a national campaign promoted by the Fostering Network to raise awareness of the need for more carers.
This year, the campaign takes the theme “Foster care transforms lives’’ and its aim is to encourage people who have been thinking about fostering to step forward and provide a home for a vulnerable young person. The campaign is being supported by Fostering North Yorkshire, a part of North Yorkshire County Council with an impressive record of placing local children and young people in care with foster families.
Liana says: “Before mum and dad started fostering I was a bit lonely as I’m an only child, but I’m never lonely now. Sometimes, if someone comes to stay and they have lots of difficulties, it can be harder at the start, but I work to make sure we become friends and then when we argue, it’s friendly just like brothers and sisters arguing. I never let our foster children feel left out when I have my friends over. Everyone just gets along. And when they go it can be really sad, but we usually stay friends and keep in touch.”
Alison, Liana’s mum added: “When a foster child is ready to move on, Liana always makes a card and we all sit down to a special goodbye meal with them. We love our roles as foster carers and want to keep on making a difference for the young people we look after. And we’re so proud of the fact that Liana really wants to foster too when she’s old enough – and she’s set her heart on being North Yorkshire’s youngest ever foster carer!’’
For more information about becoming a foster carer with Fostering North Yorkshire, visit www.northyorks.gov.uk/fostering or call Fostering North Yorkshire on 01609 534654.
