Lucy Stevens - 4th November 2022
People start fostering at all stages of life. Some people with their own children start to foster when their children are still relatively young. Others foster once their children have grown up and left home.
The impact of the empty nest.
The impact on parents of children growing up and leaving the family home is often overlooked. For some people this represents freedom and an opportunity to do those things that have been gathering dust on the bucket list. Some will really struggle and will feel a need to fill the silence with something meaningful. Either way, if fostering is something you have thought about and you now have the space and time to devote to it, it could be time to start the ball rolling!
What criteria do I need to meet to be a foster carer?
The basic criterion for fostering is that you must have a spare room available for fostering. You can find a blog we recently produced explaining the reasons for this here.
Experience raising children is very helpful as is experience working with children or vulnerable people. Neither of these is essential however.
Really, we are looking for people who are emotionally intelligent, empathetic, kind and warm and who have a desire to improve the lives of our most vulnerable children.
How do I go about applying to foster?
The first step is to do some research and find out what fostering entails and what you can expect. We have some very helpful resources on our website and have also collected a series of thoughts in our blog series Musings of a foster carer.
Once you have done some basic research, we suggest you get in touch with us to have an initial conversation. You can call us on 01206 299775, contact us on facebook or email us at team@easternfosteringservices.com
We’re always happy to speak to people about fostering and to answer the many questions they have.
Once we’ve spoken on the phone, we will arrange to visit you at home. Should we all feel that you’re ready to proceed we will ask you to complete an application form, and this marks the start of the assessment process. We have broken this process down into 5 easy steps.
It could well be that the loss you feel when your children leave home can be transformed into something truly meaningful that will change the lives of disadvantaged children for ever. If you think you may have what it takes, please do get in touch with us.
Eastern Fostering Services - The small agency with a strong family feel
