Many challenges and rewards for foster carers

Carole Morgan has been a foster carer for 18 months and says her whole family is involved in the fostering process, including her own two teenage children.

The Ashford mum has shared her experience of being a foster carer as Kent County Council tries to find more people to open up their homes to vulnerable children.

Carole, who worked as a purser for British Airways for 17 years before her change of career, is currently fostering two brothers, aged 12 and eight, and described the role as “the most challenging and rewarding job” she has ever done.

She said: “The most eye-opening thing has been my own children, aged 13 and 16, and how they have reacted to having to share mum and dad.

“They have taken the two boys under their wing and call them ‘my foster brothers’. It seems to have made them appreciate everything they have, their home, their comforts and us, their parents. The whole family fosters.

“You have to put yourself in the child’s shoes to really appreciate it. They arrive on your doorstep, a stranger’s house, and the door is opened by someone they don’t know, often in an area new to them, it must be so difficult for them.

“Then, hopefully within a few weeks they are racing around your house, feeling at home and part of your own family, looking healthier and sleeping soundly.

“It is the best experience and fantastic to feel you can make a difference to a young person’s life like that.”

Carole fosters through Kent County Council.

She added: “The county council team has been really good. The support is there 24 hours a day if we need it.

“As a family we have a social worker we meet every six weeks and the boys have their own who sees them once a month, although we are able to contact them at any time if we need to.

“The training i s amazing too. Once you have completed your basic training you have lots of other courses available too. You get so much help and support.

“You learn something new every day and you smile every day. When you see these children go out into the world feeling safe, secure and loved, that is one of the most rewarding jobs I’ve ever done.”

Kent County Council is holding an event at Hythe Sports Pavilion, South Road, Hythe, CT21 6AR, at 7pm on Tuesday, July 14 so people can find out more about fostering.

‘It is the best experience and fantastic to feel you can make a difference to a young person’s life’