Stuart and Paul

Stuart and Paul are both in their forties and have been fostering for five and a half years. They currently have a young man in their care, age 14. Here Stuart shares part of their fostering story:

"We have two adopted children, and we were so impressed by their experience in foster care before they came to us that we felt we wanted to give something back. We thought we had a lot to offer foster children. We have fostered a number of children, some for just a weekend, some for up to 18 months. We tend to offer places to children who are similar in age to our kids, as this helps them to settle in better and they all tend to get along."

"We take advantage of the training courses on offer to build up our skills and use these to offer a safe and happy home environment for the children in our care."

"Having a houseful of children can be challenging, and it certainly is never quiet! But we wouldn’t have it any other way, and if we had more room we’d offer places to more of them – who wants a quiet life?"