For Foster Carers

Foster carers are incredible people. They look after our most vulnerable young people when they need it most. Be it for weeks, months or years. The young people they look after often have incredibly diverse needs emotionally, behaviourally and educationally and that unconditional love and support needed to meet these needs whilst being incredibly rewarding must take their emotional toll?  So what happens when these wonderful people need support?

 Our friends at Bristol 500 a sister group of ours reached out to see if we might help? 

Here’s their nomination: 

Counselling for Foster Carers - R&L are experienced local authority foster carers who have cared for over 30 children in emergency and short-term placements over the last 5 years. Alongside fostering, they work as a social worker and a youth worker within local authority services.

Following a highly traumatic fostering incident, both applicants were signed off work for two months. The impact was profound, affecting their mental health, their ability to work, and their household income, particularly due to the loss of sessional work. Despite actively seeking help, they have been unable to access appropriate therapeutic support through their local authority, employer, or the NHS, where waiting times are estimated at nine months.

They are currently taking a short, necessary break from fostering while preparing to move home, with the intention of returning to foster care and increasing their capacity to support vulnerable children. Funding is sought for eight counselling sessions with a BACP-accredited counsellor experienced in foster care trauma. This support is vital to help them process what happened and remain in their frontline roles, and return safely and sustainably to fostering.