Latest news with #FosterWales
Wales Online
25-05-2025
- General
- Wales Online
'I don't think I'd be here today if it wasn't for my foster family'
'I don't think I'd be here today if it wasn't for my foster family' Jake Jamieson and Lisa Bellis have both become part of their foster families Jake first met his foster carer Sian went she looked after him during respite care (Image: Foster Wales ) Young adults who have experienced foster care have spoke about the life-changing impact supportive foster carers have had on their lives, allowing them to go to university, be supported financially and giving them a safe place to come back to. This Foster Care Fortnight care leavers have said foster care gave them opportunities they may have never had before, giving them a really positive experience despite sometimes getting a "bad rep". They have told their stories in a bid to help others. Jake Jamieson, 26 from Gwynedd, is now a personal trainer. He went into foster care at seven years old and had several foster families before he finally became part of Sian and Owain's family full-time when he was 18 having previously spent time with them during summer camps. Jake said: "I was in that time of life when you start a bit of independent living because you're going to university but you still need that support network to go through that transition. I'm extremely grateful they've allowed me to be part of their family, it's been great ever since." Jake said his experience of foster care has been extremely positive (Image: Foster Wales ) Despite being placed with different families, Jake said his childhood had still been fairly settled as he was able to stay in the same school and therefore keep his friends. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here . Article continues below He continued: "I don't think I would be where I am in life right now if I didn't go into care. Sian and Owain, they've been brilliant role models for me, helped me through university and helped me set up normal stuff like guarantors and bills. "You always need your mum and dad to help you with things like that." Jake explained his foster carers have three children of their own and have done lots of fostering over the years. He has now moved out full-time but continues to go back for holidays, birthdays, Christmas and Easter and sometimes has them stay in his house. They also go on family holidays, often opting to head to Turkey. After studying sport and nutrition at university, Jake runs a personal training business. He said: "I absolutely love it, I've found my purpose and I just went with it. It's ironic because I'm helping people be better versions of themselves and that's sort of what happened to me." "I think foster care can sometimes get a bad rep. When I tell people I was brought up in care their instant reaction would be: 'Oh I'm sorry to hear that.' I understand they are thinking he's obviously gone through something to be in that situation but I always say don't be sorry. "For me it's been nothing but positive, if anything I just feel a bit privileged to be able to have those opportunities which I probably wouldn't of had if I didn't go into care. Overall it's a very very positive experience." Talking about young people who are currently in care, he said: "I would say don't let your past define you. Just because you may of had a bad start in life doesn't mean it needs to go on in that way. Find something that gives you purpose and go with it!" Lisa Bellis, 27, from Wrexham, is about to start a job as a healthcare nurse. She was fostered by Gary and Del, aged seven, but she was told she had the brain of a two-year-old because she hadn't been going to school. Lisa said her foster carers have gone "above and beyond" to look after her and her daughter (Image: Lisa Bellis ) Despite not knowing her alphabet or how to read and write, she passed her high school exams and has recently finished a nursing degree. Lisa said: "I always say I don't think I'd be here today if it wasn't for them." Lisa's foster carers have three of their own children and several foster children who Lisa now considers how own siblings. She explained Gary and Del always put everybody else first and joked the family couldn't get rid of her now. She said: "They always went above and beyond. They've taken me on about four holidays and always got me things I wanted. It's meant a lot because I didn't have that love and care they've shown me and people deserve a second chance in life." Lisa's now a mum to a five-year-old daughter and said Del and Gary treat her like their own grandchild. She joked: "If anything they spoil her too much!" "It's obviously scary when you come into care because you don't know these people and you may not know why you're there. But it does get easier. You've just got to trust the process and you've got to trust them because they're there to support and show you what love actually is and what a family is." Data from the Welsh Government shows that in Wales, there are more than 7,198 children in care. However, there is immense pressure on the system with only 3,800 foster families. Low numbers of suitable foster carers can mean siblings are more likely to be separated, children are less likely to be able to stay in the same area and less young people will get the necessary support. People interested in becoming a foster carer can find out more through Foster Wales. Alastair Cope, head of Foster Wales, said: "Foster Care Fortnight always offers a brilliant opportunity to celebrate the people who create lasting change in the lives of so many children in Wales. Article continues below "Every fostering journey relies on strong, trusting relationships to create the stability within a loving home that all children deserve. Whether between a foster carer and a child, a child with their foster siblings, or between a family and their social worker, these relationships open up new possibilities for a child's future and help support them into successful independent lives."
North Wales Chronicle
22-05-2025
- Sport
- North Wales Chronicle
Bala man shares how foster carers gave him 'secure home'
Jake, now 26, was just eight years old when he began short stays at foster carer Sian's house. The visits, which lasted a few days at a time, were filled with football games in the garden and competitive Wii Sports sessions. Jake said these visits felt like holidays, and he always felt part of the family. He said: "In the past, if I said I was in care, people's instant reaction would be to say 'I'm sorry to hear.' "But they shouldn't be sorry. "I see it as a really good thing to be in care because it gives young people a better life, a better opportunity at doing something they probably would never have done otherwise." Jake continued to visit Sian's house throughout his childhood in care. While studying sport nutrition at Liverpool John Moores University, Jake's circumstances changed and he contacted Sian and her husband Owain, who welcomed him into their home on a permanent basis. With their support, Jake has gone on to establish his own business as a personal trainer and now lives independently in Liverpool. Jake said: "If I have any problems or issues, they are my first point of contact. "I see the whole family just as sort of my family now. "I see them as my siblings as well." Sian said: "I'm so proud of him. "He's driven. "Obviously I'm proud of what he's achieved, but I'm proud of so much more than that. "He's got clients, he's successful in his business but for me I take more pride in the young man he has become and that he has allowed all his experiences to shape him. "I'm so pleased to see that he's able to maintain relationships and that he sees us as his family." Jake's story comes as part of Foster Care Fortnight, which takes place between May 12 and May 25, 2025. The fostering community in the UK is celebrating the power of relationships. Foster Wales is appealing to recruit an additional 800 local authority foster carers by 2028 to address this need. Alastair Cope, head of Foster Wales, said: "Foster Care Fortnight always offers a brilliant opportunity to celebrate the people who create lasting change in the lives of so many children in Wales. "Every fostering journey relies on strong, trusting relationships to create the stability within a loving home that all children deserve. "Whether between a foster carer and a child, a child with their foster siblings, or between a family and their social worker, these relationships open up new possibilities for a child's future and help support them into successful independent lives."
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
My foster carers became family, now I want to foster too
A woman who was fostered as a child says she hopes to foster others in the future. Aneesa Khan, 21, was born in Pakistan, but moved to north Wales with her family when she was five. She said being fostered was "nerve-racking" at the start but now "they're like family to me". Foster Wales is hoping to recruit new carers, as the latest figures on their website state 4,785 children were in foster care in 2024, an increase of 3.7% since 2018. "One of my parents died, so the other couldn't look after five of us at the same time, so we went into fostering, Ms Khan said. She lived with a temporary foster family before she was moved to a permanent care setting. Her brothers moved to Manchester, but Ms Khan stayed in Wales. "I didn't want to follow the religion, so the social worker took me to Pwllheli and introduced me to my foster carers that I now live with," she said. "That was around 2016, so I've been living with them for nine years now." Ms Khan said that her emotions "were everywhere". "I was living with strangers at the time, but now they're like family to me... it's honestly the best experience I've ever had. "I wouldn't refer to them as foster carers anymore, I would refer to them as their names, because they're family now." Ms Khan said she was worried about trying to fit in with a new community to begin with. She said: "It was a bit nerve-racking, because I'm brown... I found it hard to fit in at the start. "I had social workers at the start, and they were amazing, they were helping with the contact with my brothers." Ms Khan is now considering fostering herself in the future. "The impact is has on children is amazing... the way you help them emotionally, mentally, physically. I would love to be one myself if I'm honest. Couple keep fostering after caring for 100 children Huge need for foster carers in Wales, say councils Fostering inspires comedian Pritchard-McLean's show According to Foster Wales, a national network of non-profit fostering services used by all Welsh local authorities: 7,200 children were looked after in Wales in 2024 4,785 of those were in foster care, a figure that has increased by 3.7% between 2018 and 2024. Fôn Roberts, head of social services at Anglesey county council, said: "We've got 7,000 children in our care across Wales at the moment, and we've got approximately 3,800 foster families, so there's a short-fall of around 800 foster carers. "It is a challenge for local authorities, because obviously, there are other fostering agencies across Wales and the UK. "We want to keep our children local, the challenge we're finding is some foster carers decide to retire, so they end their period of fostering with us. "However we're always on the lookout for new foster families, whatever that looks like really." Mr Roberts said foster carers retiring was part of the reason for the increased recent figures. He also said there were a lot of misconceptions. "People's beliefs that you have to be a married couple owning your own property, for example, to be able to foster, and that's completely not the case. You can be a single carer, you can be in rented accommodation. "The fostering perception that people have out there isn't true. "We have a range of different foster carers across Wales and we want to recruit more, so it's about breaking that misconception that people have".
BBC News
20-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
My foster carers became family, now I want to foster too
A woman who was fostered as a child says she hopes to foster others in the Khan, 21, was born in Pakistan, but moved to north Wales with her family when she was said being fostered was "nerve-racking" at the start but now "they're like family to me".Foster Wales is hoping to recruit new carers, as the latest figures on their website state 4,785 children were in foster care in 2024, an increase of 3.7% since 2018. 'They're like family to me' "One of my parents died, so the other couldn't look after five of us at the same time, so we went into fostering, Ms Khan lived with a temporary foster family before she was moved to a permanent care setting. Her brothers moved to Manchester, but Ms Khan stayed in Wales."I didn't want to follow the religion, so the social worker took me to Pwllheli and introduced me to my foster carers that I now live with," she said."That was around 2016, so I've been living with them for nine years now."Ms Khan said that her emotions "were everywhere"."I was living with strangers at the time, but now they're like family to me... it's honestly the best experience I've ever had."I wouldn't refer to them as foster carers anymore, I would refer to them as their names, because they're family now." Ms Khan said she was worried about trying to fit in with a new community to begin said: "It was a bit nerve-racking, because I'm brown... I found it hard to fit in at the start."I had social workers at the start, and they were amazing, they were helping with the contact with my brothers."Ms Khan is now considering fostering herself in the future."The impact is has on children is amazing... the way you help them emotionally, mentally, physically. I would love to be one myself if I'm honest. How many foster families are there in Wales? According to Foster Wales, a national network of non-profit fostering services used by all Welsh local authorities:7,200 children were looked after in Wales in 20244,785 of those were in foster care, a figure that has increased by 3.7% between 2018 and 2024.Fôn Roberts, head of social services at Anglesey county council, said: "We've got 7,000 children in our care across Wales at the moment, and we've got approximately 3,800 foster families, so there's a short-fall of around 800 foster carers. "It is a challenge for local authorities, because obviously, there are other fostering agencies across Wales and the UK."We want to keep our children local, the challenge we're finding is some foster carers decide to retire, so they end their period of fostering with us."However we're always on the lookout for new foster families, whatever that looks like really."Mr Roberts said foster carers retiring was part of the reason for the increased recent figures. He also said there were a lot of misconceptions."People's beliefs that you have to be a married couple owning your own property, for example, to be able to foster, and that's completely not the case. You can be a single carer, you can be in rented accommodation."The fostering perception that people have out there isn't true."We have a range of different foster carers across Wales and we want to recruit more, so it's about breaking that misconception that people have".
South Wales Argus
20-05-2025
- General
- South Wales Argus
Torfaen foster carers celebrated at awards ceremony
An event was held at the Parkway Hotel in Cwmbran to recognise these carers, including a special awards ceremony and lunch. The awards coincided with Foster Care Fortnight, which runs from May 12 to May 25. As one of the carers who received a special recognition award, Sharon-Ann, who has been fostering for 12 years, said: "I'm very grateful to have been nominated. "It was lovely to come together with other carers and be recognised for the time and care we've given to children when they've needed it most." Another carer who was recognised at the event, Emma from Pontypool, said: "I was completely surprised to receive the special recognition award, but very grateful. "It's a wonderful feeling to know that what we do is appreciated when we welcome a young person into our home." For foster carers who were unable to attend the event, the Foster Wales team personally delivered bouquets of flowers to their homes. Torfaen's executive education member, councillor Richard Clark, said: "We are incredibly grateful for the unwavering support and the positive impact foster carers have."
