I absolutely love my work as a parent & child foster carer

Nick and Lorraine's Story

What made you want to foster? Tell me a bit about you both and what you did before?

I wanted to give something back as my dad was given up at birth, was fostered & then adopted, as was my middle sister, we previously fostered before when our children were very young. We did stop for a while when we moved home and location to concentrate on our young family. We started fostering again four years ago and decided to foster with Nexus Fostering this time. Before we began fostering, I had various jobs, such as a wedding planner and also managed a coffee shop.

Nick is a self-employed plasterer and enjoys his work, and he knew my passion for fostering and has always supported me and continues to do so. 

How have you found parent and child fostering? How many parent and child placements have you had over the years? How do you find this type of fostering? 

I absolutely love my work. I find it so rewarding. I love allowing these parents the chance to be with their babies and support them. I also enjoy the assessment part and helping the family during difficult times. I enjoy the training side of fostering and learning new skills and teaching the parents these skills to help them. We are now on the sixth parent and child foster placement. 

Do you have a support network around you? If yes, who supports you?

Yes, we have our 3 adult children who are totally onboard and love the work that we do. We also have many other foster carers we can and do call on. This is a great help and keeps our support network strong. 

How has life changed since you become foster parents?

Completely changed, you open your home and life up to people you do not know. You can sometimes feel like you lose friends and an aspect of freedom to come and go. You have to think about how you dress and behave in your own home, it can be a very isolating job, and you have to consider these things. It can take some adjusting to.

It is giving opportunities to parents to live in a loving and nurturing environment, to guide and encourage better things for them. It is very rewarding. 

What top tips would you give to someone considering fostering?

It’s a real learning curve. You learn things about yourself all the time, and you need to be open-minded, non-judgemental and compassionate. However, don’t be afraid to ask for help, reach out for support, and take on as much training as offered. You’re never too old to learn new skills and it helps a lot when you are fostering.

Anything else you would like to add?

I absolutely love my work, I am the primary foster carer, and Nick is my support. I wish the pressure weren’t so great on him to attend training as he is self-employed and financially carries this family and all placements. So him losing days means losing pay, which can’t happen for my work to be as successful as it is. He is my absolute rock, and that is all I need.