Foster Together

There’s a lot you can do with a spare room in your house; from a home gym to a walk-in wardrobe. But nothing is more rewarding than turning a spare room into a home for a foster child. 

Across the UK, 7,000 new fostering homes are needed to care for children who are unable to live with their own family. 

Two people who have answered this call for care are Jill and Mark, who have used their spare room to provide a loving home to many children across their years of fostering. 

Jill explained the difference becoming a foster carer has made to her life: 

“The impact of fostering on my life is that it has completely taken over it, we live with these children every day, it’s the first thing we think about. 

Being a foster carer has really changed my life, to see these young people who haven’t had the experiences as others their age; to be able to provide those experiences for them and let them thrive in life, it just means everything to me.” 
 
Mark added: “Seeing the children leave and get good careers, you give yourself a tap on the back to say you’ve done a good job.” 

Whilst there are many options when choosing who to foster with, Jill and Mark chose the Together Trust to benefit from the supportive, local fostering team and the extensive training available. 

“The Together Trust will give you the opportunity to go and speak to other foster carers, to find out their real-life experiences,” Jill says. “They also outlined all the training that was available as well as explaining what was expected of us and the challenges we might face. They provide wonderful support. 

Mark adds: “The Together Trust has been a fantastic agency for us, the support mechanism, the training; everything has been superb. And we decided to go ahead with fostering after some initial training and, 21 years later, we are still doing it and still enjoying it!”