YOU have what it takes to become a foster carer, to become part of a team that changes the lives of young people!
You probably don’t realise it but you have been developing the skills we look for in our foster carers, throughout your life and in particularly your time spent in the forces.
Attributes such as thinking on the spot, tackling unknown situations and remaining clam under pressure, to name but a few, are all qualities that make someone a great foster carer and role model to young people in care. The experiences you have gone through will allow you to empathise with them and understand the fears and doubt they may have.
Read our story about Kathleen who used her experiences in the forces to help change the lives of many young people who came to live with her and the family.
Kathleen & Stephen, along with family, have been fostering for Lorimer Fostering for over 6 years.
“After leaving home at 18 to join the army I thought I was ready to be in the big wide world. My first task was to get myself to a training base down in London.
My heart pounding as the train drove away, and seeing my mum and dad disappear in to the distance. I was scared. Scared that I wouldn’t be able to find my way around London, scared that I’d be forced to live with strangers, scared that I would get shouted at because I didn’t know what the rules were.
But as the weeks went by, those strangers became my friends and family. I learned how to cook, clean, iron clothes, stick to rules, work as a team, and deal with the things life throws at you as a grown-up. After just a few months of training it was amazing that all the young people that I had entered with were leaving like adults, well prepared for their future.
One of my first roles was as a driver for the medics, so I quickly got used to having to think on my feet and react carefully in dangerous situations. All that training had now become part of my DNA.
Whenever new foster children enter our home it always takes me back to how I felt during those early days in the army. I can empathise with their fears, homesickness, doubts about ever seeing their family again, learning to trust strangers, even some of the trauma they may have witnessed, be it through neglect, emotional, or physical abuse.
Along with Myself, my partner, and my step-son, we have now fostered over a dozen young people, boys, girls, mothers & babies, toddlers, teenagers. My phone is full of numbers for social workers, reviewing officers, schools, colleges, counsellors, doctors, psychologists, and every other service you can imagine.
No matter what, you still need a team around to support you!
If you like helping and making a difference, being a foster carer is a very satisfying career choice. You’ll find a lot of the skills from the forces are useful every single day. Patience, thinking on the spot, knowing when you should speak and when to just listen, sticking to routines, constantly meeting new people, talking a situation down to de-escalate the tension, having to just get on and still live and work together even after an argument… All of these skills can help when foster caring.”
Fostering is a unique challenge with unique rewards! Are you up for the challenge?! If so, the please visit our website at www.lorimerfostering.com to enquire for more information or alternatively please call Freephone on 0800 038 7799.
We are currently looking to recruit Foster Carers in the North West of England; Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire areas.