West Midlands LGBTQ+ adults and others urged to foster children

BBC News

a day ago

More people are being urged to consider fostering in the West Midlands as, according to the charity The Fostering Network, there is an urgent need for 630 more carers in the region.As one example, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are being urged to consider filling the gap. Kimberly and Lucy Chapman, from Shifnal, Shropshire, have been fostering together for seven years and said they were worried they might be judged for being gay but described the fostering community as welcoming and accepting."There are lots of highs and lots of lows but we really love fostering," said Kimberly. "I couldn't imagine doing anything else."
The couple, who mainly do long-term fostering, are currently caring for four foster children under the age of five, including a newborn baby."It's extremely full on but we're having a blast," she added.Kimberly, 42, who has two biological children, began fostering as a single mother, inspired by her own parents who fostered for 21 years.When the couple met two years later, Lucy went through the assessment process and they started fostering together.They have fostered 15 children and enjoy taking them on holiday, shopping and teaching them to ride bikes.They admit the hardest part is letting the children go: "It's incredibly difficult to say goodbye."
There are no official figures on the number of foster carers who identify as LGBTQ+, but a survey by the agency Compass Fostering estimated it was 7%.Lucy believed having an LGBTQ+ background could be an asset in being a foster carer."The majority of people coming out will have experienced rejection from their family, even homelessness, and I think a lot of children in foster care have experienced exactly the same thing," she added.The fostering agency the couple work with, Family Care Group, said its main drive was to get more people from the LGBTQ+ community to think about becoming foster carers.Sonia Sandhu, from the agency, said the fostering process did not make assumptions about sexuality or gender identity."It's about being compassionate and having a welcoming home to offer," she added.Kimberly and Lucy urged other gay couples who are thinking about adoption to give fostering a go first."There's a million reasons why people think you can't foster but you absolutely can, you just need a spare room and an open heart".
John Cargill, a single male foster carer who lives in Worcester, also wanted to change perceptions about who could foster."Nobody thinks of a single male as being the primary carer but there are lots of them out there, they're just unsung heroes," he said.The 67-year-old retiree decided he wanted to become a foster carer after the Covid pandemic."I was rattling around this lovely little Victorian semi and thought that was a bit selfish and that maybe I should be sharing what I have with someone else," he said.He has been a respite foster carer with Worcestershire Fostering for 18 months, looking after teenagers for up to a week so their primary caregivers can have a break."When they come to me, it's like a little holiday for them because some of these kids come from quite traumatic and neglectful backgrounds," he said.
Mr Cargill, who does not have birth children of his own, said he tried to pass on important skills to the young people he looked after, such as cooking and cleaning.But he said he also enjoyed getting involved in their hobbies. Although he found it challenging doing it on his own, he said he enjoyed it so much that he planned to carry on doing it for as long as he was physically able. He urged others considering a career in foster care not to be put off by societal expectations."Gender doesn't matter, sexuality doesn't matter, your background, your class, your education doesn't matter. Kids just want to be understood and looked after," he said.Joy Pollock, from Worcestershire Fostering, said they have more than 1,000 children in the county who needed a home.She said they were looking for a range of carers, with some children benefiting from having a single carer like Mr Cargill and other children needing a busy home.She said they wanted to get away from the idea that you have to be superhuman or a superhero to foster a child."We just want people who can cook a bit of spag bol, put a meal on the table and just have capacity to love and accept a child," she said.
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