Voices of Foster Carers

Sue and Bob Yeo Foster Carers: We as a family began our fostering journey 24 years ago. Our children were teenagers at the time. We had thought about fostering for some years before finally deciding when the right time was for us. Our children were the most important part of our decision making so after many discussions with them we made one of the most life changing phone calls for us as a family.

Over the years we have seen around 100 children, teenagers, and adults with their own babies stay with us in our home.  We have cared for many different types of fostering which included emergency, respite, short - term and long-term placements. We have had many babies and younger children who have either been adopted, returned home, or gone to family members.  We have helped teenagers moved to independence and even return to their native countries.

For the last ten  years we have concentrated on parent and child placements. This is a very different type of fostering. Women come to us either pregnant or with their baby. We assist with assessment of the parent and all the pre- and post-natal appointments etc. There is a great deal of support, advice and observations involved. We have supported several mums with poorly babies who require tube and oxygen assistance.

Over the years we have found our fostering journey very rewarding although not all outcomes were what we hoped for. We have felt great satisfaction and achievement in every placement we have had albeit some have been emotional, some hard work.

We still hear from some that we have cared for. Many of the children we have cared for are now adults. It’s great to hear from them from time to time and we are proud to have been part of their life.

We have made so many friends over the years – some lovely caring foster carers – some lovely adopters and family members. That’s a privilege.

In addition to our role of foster carers we also are part of the Foster Carers Association. This we set up 18yrs ago. Its initial aims and objectives were to offer support to foster carers and their families. We have gone from strength to strength over the years and have a high regard in many circles of the local authority. As a committee we work alongside the fostering service to help to improve and maintain good standards of care for the children of Stoke on Trent.

We organise various social events throughout the year for children and their fostering family. These are very successful due to the commitment of our FCA.

The committee have regular meetings with the Fostering managers, plus we have representation in the corporate parenting and virtual school meetings. We are also affiliated with the Fostering Network and the West Midlands Forum.

To conclude, we were very humble to be highly recommended as carers of the year @ the Hero’s Award in 2022 and proud that the FCA were also recognised as a community group of the year in 2023.