Yvette and Laurie - 'we still see our first foster child'

Yvette and Laurie are foster carers who have dedicated over a decade to supporting children and helping provide positive outcomes. They currently focus on parent and child fostering and enjoy sharing their time with the parents they are supporting. 

What made you want to become foster carers? 

We have always been quite fortunate in our life. We just wanted to give something back to the community. Once our children had grown up and flown the nest, we had the opportunity to offer a little bit back, so we decided we would go for fostering.

What did you do before fostering? 

I had worked with children previously, so it was transitioning those skills and to support children still but from home. Laurie was in the Royal Air Force for nine years and then went into helping the Royal Saudi Air Force in Saudi for 20 years. After this, he then continued working for British Aerospace as a design engineer.

How have you found being foster carers with Nexus Fostering?

Brilliant. We really enjoy it. Laurie has retired now from his other work and given up the usual day to day work but still plays a considerable role in the fostering as he is around for helping out. I have no intentions of retiring from my work yet as manage this and fostering together.

How did you adapt to becoming foster carers? 

It wasn't bad at all, and it went smoothly. Because we always had an open house policy with our own children. So our house was home from home for all the other kids. This could be them coming around because they had a problem or wanted to chat with us or just because they wanted to come in and socialise. So for us, it was an extension of what we've been doing.

Nobody was surprised. They all knew we were going to go into something like this. 

What types of fostering do you do?

Parent and child and moving on to adoption has to be my favourite. We have had a considerable variation in the children we have cared for. We have cared for teenagers, infants, babies, parent and child. All varied in length from short- or long-term fostering, and we have enjoyed it every time.

What is your stand out memory from fostering?

The little boy we had, the first youngster we looked after, was just amazing. In the end, when he went for adoption, we were so pleased with where he was going that we could not have chosen better parents for him if we'd been the ones choosing. We still see him, and he still breaks our hearts.

What top tips would you give to someone who is considering becoming a foster carer? 

Never assume and always, when things aren't going as you would expect them to do. Take a step back and walk a mile in their shoes because you have probably had a good life. And you have got values and boundaries. Many of these children have never had those types of things but never give up on them and persevere. It's the same with parent and child fostering. Try and be in the shoes of the parent because they have likely not had a good time.

After reading Yvette and Laurie's story, could you help by fostering? Get in touch at a time that suits you to chat with us - Contact Us | Nexus Fostering