{"id":203,"date":"2025-09-18T09:46:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T09:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.togethertrust.org.uk\/foster-together\/?page_id=203"},"modified":"2025-09-18T10:28:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T10:28:36","slug":"david-and-jessica","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.togethertrust.org.uk\/foster-together\/stories\/david-and-jessica","title":{"rendered":"David and Jessica"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile pattern-media-text background-image-swirl is-style-squircle-mask\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 39%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fostering spotlight: <br>David and Jessica<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"671\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/David-Jessica-Gilder-1024x671.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-220 size-medium\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/David-Jessica-Gilder-1024x671.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/David-Jessica-Gilder-300x197.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/David-Jessica-Gilder-768x503.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/David-Jessica-Gilder-1536x1006.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/David-Jessica-Gilder-2048x1342.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Not everybody celebrates their special day with the arrival of three children, but that\u2019s what happened to our foster carer and \u2018birthday boy\u2019, David and his wife, Jessica.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in March 2022, David enjoyed his birthday cake with pre-teen and teen siblings, two girls and a boy, who were his and Jessica\u2019s first foster children, staying for five months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For most of the time since then, the couple have been caring for three under-10s brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With no children of their own,&nbsp;David and Jessica decided to start fostering to help children who didn\u2019t have a \u201cstable home and positive family experiences\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After being approached by approximately 50 organisations initially, the husband-and-wife team eventually chose the Together Trust as the agency they would like to foster with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe trust was very responsive during the whole process\u201d, said David. \u201cThere was always someone you could speak to on the phone. It felt more like a family, and we wanted to be with an organisation reasonably local to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although their fostering experiences have, at times, been \u201cchallenging\u201d, David and Jessica both see the benefits. Jessica, who has worked with nursery age children, reflects that&nbsp;the boys living with them have \u201cchanged a lot\u201d since they arrived and are \u201cnow very settled\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good ongoing support and training from the Together Trust has helped the couple flourish in their fostering roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Friendships have been made with other foster carers and children on the two annual trust-organised short breaks the family have attended.&nbsp;\u201cThe boys made good friends and there were tears on the last day\u201d says Jessica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>David\u2019s advice about choosing a fostering agency is to \u2018go with the one you feel most comfortable with\u201d, while Jessica adds \u201cgo with your heart\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, they\u2019ve already recommended the Together Trust, giving a big thumbs-up to the sales assistant who helped them with their sofa purchase!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-center is-style-squircle-mask has-tt-purple-background-color has-background\" style=\"border-radius:10px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--space-large);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--space-xxlarge);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--space-large);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--space-xxlarge);grid-template-columns:auto 30%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-tt-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ee4c848a0a5b8280ba2a0f92ca4a435b\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--space-xsmall);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--space-xsmall)\"><strong>Foster <mark class=\"has-inline-color has-tt-light-blue-color\">together<\/mark><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-tt-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-15d4adc6bb2d0f8f90530dfb112f1055\">With Foster Together, we\u2019ve worked hard to build a connected fostering family where staff, carers and families can support each other. In fact, our level of training, support and friendly community mean some of our foster carers have been with us for over 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-tt-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-d4cc57022f990184ccacb6a8f7b4c86c\">Learn more about fostering below or&nbsp;make an enquiry&nbsp;and kickstart your fostering journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--space-medium);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--space-medium)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-secondary\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-tt-dark-teal-color has-tt-yellow-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\">View our vacancies<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-secondary\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-tt-white-color has-tt-purple-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\">Make an enquiry<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/Foster-Together-banner-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-94 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/Foster-Together-banner-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/Foster-Together-banner-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/Foster-Together-banner-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/Foster-Together-banner-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.togethertrust.org.uk\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/Foster-Together-banner.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not everybody celebrates their special day with the arrival of three children, but that\u2019s what happened to our foster carer and \u2018birthday boy\u2019, David and his wife, Jessica. Back in March 2022, David enjoyed his birthday cake with pre-teen and teen siblings, two girls and a boy, who were his and Jessica\u2019s first foster children, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"parent":242,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-203","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>David and Jessica - Foster Together<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.togethertrust.org.uk\/foster-together\/stories\/david-and-jessica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"David and Jessica - Foster Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not everybody celebrates their special day with the arrival of three children, but that\u2019s what happened to our foster carer and \u2018birthday boy\u2019, David and his wife, Jessica. 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