You don’t have to have children of your own to be a Foster Carer but we do recommend that in order to get approved you will have to have experience of working with or caring for children.
If you feel you don’t have enough experience here are a few things you can do.
Spend time with family that have children
Family is probably the easiest way to spend time and interact with children, join them on days out with the children, helping out whenever you can. Offering to babysit is also a good way of getting experience, and this has the bonus that you will become very popular within the family!
If family isn’t an option then friends can help
You may not have a large family or a family with children, so friends may be an option. You might have found yourself saying no in the past if friends have invited you out on a day centered around children, as you may have felt left out without children of your own. This is now a great opportunity to spend time with and help your friends with their children gaining experience in the process.
Volunteer
Volunteering is also a great way of getting to spend time with children. Church groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides are all organisations that are on the lookout for volunteers.
If you have a particular skill there may be groups and clubs in your local area that would love to tap into these. For example, dancing, football and computer skills.
Come to one of our coffee mornings
Our coffee mornings give you the opportunity to meet existing careers, maybe some were in the same position as you and will be happy to share advice and guidance about the steps they took to get experience of young people before getting approved.
