Real people. Real stories. Real difference
Everyone’s fostering experience is different.
These are the voices of our amazing foster carers.
They’ll tell you what it’s really like — the good days, the tough days, and everything in between.
Find out why they chose to foster and what inspires them as foster carers providing caring, supportive homes for vulnerable children and young people.
Lee & Stewart: Fostering as a family
Foster carers for 2 years in Hull.
“Some people might think fostering is just a job. But if it is — it’s the best job in the world.”
Lee and Stewart are dads to five children. Their home in Hull has always been full of noise, laughter and love. A couple of years ago, they realised they had more of all three to give.
Before they said yes, they talked it through with their kids. It had to be a whole-family decision. And their children didn’t just agree — they threw themselves into it.
Their favourite moments? The firsts. The first Halloween. The first time a child tries something new and loves it. One foster son arrived living on nuggets and chips. Now he can’t get enough of duck wraps.
“Those moments might sound small. But to a child who’s never had them — they’re everything.”
Rachel: Single foster carer
Foster carer since 2020 in Suffolk.
“I’d move mountains if I needed to, to make sure any child has everything they need to be the best version of themselves.”
Rachel’s story starts with her own. She was adopted as a child, so she’s always known what a loving home can do for a child. When she adopted her daughter five years ago, she realised she still had more to give. In 2020, she became a foster carer.
She’s seen children arrive quiet and shut down — and watched those same children, weeks later, laughing, chatting and asking questions. Those moments are why she keeps going.
Rachel fosters on her own. But she never feels like she’s doing it alone.
“Fostering isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being present. It’s about being there.”
Keith & Tracy: Never too late to foster
Foster carers for 3+ years and parents to six grown-up children in Barnsley, Yorkshire.
“Becoming foster carers is without doubt one of the finest achievements of our lifetime. We only wish we’d started 30 years sooner.”
In 2015, Keith was diagnosed with cancer. When the treatment worked, he and Tracy faced a question they couldn’t ignore. What should they do next that really mattered?
Friends who fostered suggested they’d be ideal. They laughed. Keith was 60, Tracy was 54 — surely too old? But they agreed to have a conversation. And that conversation changed everything.
Their first long-term placement was two sisters, aged seven and five. Quiet and withdrawn when they arrived. Happy, confident and thriving ten months later. Tracy and Keith still speak to them every week.
Today, three children call their home home.
“Children don’t need perfection. They need commitment. They need someone who believes in them.”
Nathan: Fostering where its needed
Foster carer and BSL teacher /teacher of the Deaf in Manchester.
“Every child deserves to be truly understood — not just cared for.”
Nathan is profoundly Deaf. British Sign Language isn’t just how he communicates — it’s how he connects, expresses emotion and feels fully himself.
Throughout his career teaching deaf children, he kept noticing something that troubled him. Deaf children in care were being placed in homes where nobody could properly communicate with them. Trying to explain your feelings with half the words missing. Every single day.
He knew he could offer something different — a home where communication was natural, easy and constant.
His young person arrived anxious, withdrawn and unsure. Today he’s sociable, has plans for the future, and is preparing for college. He even takes on DIY projects around the house — and earns pocket money doing it.
“Sign language is freedom. It’s identity. It’s dignity. I wanted to give a child a home where it was just normal.”
Karen & Mark: 10 years of saying YES
Foster carers for over 10 years in Yorkshire.
“It’s crazy how few life experiences some children have had. Almost everything is a first. And getting to be there for those firsts is one of the greatest privileges of fostering.”
When their daughter started high school, Karen and Mark felt the house go quiet. They looked at each other and knew — they still had so much love, time and space to give. Fostering felt right straight away. But only once their daughter was part of the conversation too.
That was over ten years ago.
They once told a fourteen-year-old they were having a barbecue that evening. He asked what a barbecue was. He’d never seen one. That moment never left them.
The moments that stay with them most, though, are the small ones. A child squeezing your hand in a busy shop. A quiet conversation at the end of the day. A teenager who came back at eighteen to show them a tattoo — the date he arrived at their door. He told them it was the day his life started.
“They don’t feel like foster children. They feel like ours.”
Liz & Steve: 20 years of open doors
Foster carers for over 20 years in the Midlands – 16 children welcomed so far.
“People think fostering is something you do. For us, it became who we are.”
When their own children left home, Steve and Liz’s house went quiet overnight. They still had space, time and love to give — and they weren’t ready to let that go. So they said yes to fostering. That was over twenty years ago.
Sixteen children have walked through their front door since then. In their home, there’s a wall of photos they call the “rogues’ gallery” — pictures of every child who’s ever lived with them, sitting alongside photos of their grandchildren. No separation. No labels. Everyone belongs.
When Steve was diagnosed with cancer in 2019, the children living with them stepped up without being asked. They helped, they checked in, they cared.
Some of those children still come back for Christmas and birthdays.
“Our house isn’t quiet anymore. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Stephen & Julie's Fostering Story
Greater Manchester. Parents who waited for the right moment to foster.
“You’ve got to want to make a difference. That’s when you know you’re ready.”
Fostering had been on Julie’s mind for years. Life just kept getting in the way — family commitments, finances, timing. Then their children grew more independent, things settled, and they looked at each other and thought: now is the time.
They didn’t rush in. They read other carers’ stories, asked questions and made sure they understood what they were stepping into. By the time a child walked through their door, Julie and Stephen were already thinking about them.
That preparation shows in how they care. Music lessons, one-to-one school support, help exploring a love of photography or sport. Whatever a child needs — they make it happen. Because they treat every child exactly as they treated their own.
“It’s the quiet changes that stay with you. Watching a child start to believe in themselves. Knowing they feel part of something.”
Emily & James' Fostering Story
At the start of their fostering journey. Building a family in a different way.
“Instead of helping just one child, we could help many. That’s when everything clicked.”
Emily and James had talked about starting a family and explored all kinds of paths. Then Emily said something that changed everything. Instead of helping one child, what if they could help many?
That one conversation became an idea. The idea became a decision. And the decision became the life they chose.
Their niece was delighted from day one — she thought she was simply getting a new friend. Their family and friends didn’t hesitate either. “That is perfect for you two,” they said.
During training, Emily and James heard about carers who’d fostered for decades — adult children who still called them “Dad,” still came back years later. That’s the future they’re building towards.
“It’s about giving children a place where they feel safe, loved and accepted. A home with no judgement, where they know they belong.”
What does fostering feel like? Ask the young people who've been there.
We can tell you a lot about fostering. But the people who know it best aren’t us.
They’re the children and young people who’ve lived it — who’ve arrived somewhere new, unsure and uncertain, and found something they weren’t expecting.
Safety. Kindness. A place to belong.
These are their words. We think they’re worth hearing.
"I've had a life-changing experience! And I can’t thank Laura & Glenn enough because I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for them both."
"No matter how much of a bad start you have had in life, however many setbacks you have experienced – with the right kind of help you can achieve your goals. You can follow your dreams!”
