A COUPLE have shared their experience of fostering with the Star to encourage others to back up the council's recruitment campaign.

A fostering campaign has been launched in the borough to promote the services available and encourage people to welcome a child into their home.

Linda and Alan's story 

Linda and Alan Thompson from Clock Face agreed to share their experience of fostering as they hope others will consider taking on a child themselves.

The couple, who have four children of their own, have fostered nine children in 15 years, with two of them, Bethany and Liam, aged 21 and 12, still living with them.

They first fostered after Alan suffered an accident which took him out of work.

With time on their hands and space in their home, they decided to change a child’s life.

Discussing the process, 71-year-old Alan said: "We were thinking about it for a while before that because we had spare bedrooms as everyone else had flown the nest, so we thought we’d give it a go.

"We had seen a couple of adverts and thought we’d ring up and enquire, then a couple of social workers came down, fantastic people, spoke about the ups and downs and were quite honest about it as you need to know these things before you go into it.

"You’ll do a couple more meetings and then they’ll bring somebody around to introduce you to a young lad or a young girl, and from then on, it’s fantastic."

READ > Council's Christmas gift appeal receives thousands of donations

Linda, 70, added: "Every child comes with different backgrounds, but you can make a big difference to their lives.

"You’re not on your own, there’s always help there; only a phone call away."

Meeting the family 

Linda also detailed how their own children were supportive of their decision to foster and even brought up Bethany, who was fostered at age six, with Alan and Linda’s grandchildren.

She added: "They were absolutely fine; they were telling us to go for it as we had the space. They’re all older now with children, and when Bethany came to us, my daughter didn’t have any children then, so she’s been brought up with the grandchildren, and she’s been a massive part of this family."

Liam has been with them for three years and even remembers the exact date he moved in - which he calls their anniversary.

The foster parents also wanted to reassure others who are doubtful of fostering a child who’s at a certain age that there is no need to be hesitant as measures are put in place to help.

Linda, who recently retired from Whiston Hospital, explained: "At the end of the day, you’ve brought your own children up at that age and you would do the same with little children; you give all the help that you can give them and reassure them that they are secure and safe.

"Some might still see their parents, so they’ve still got that contact as well, but they’re not living in an environment that they’ve come out of."

Their best decision 

The couple shared that fostering was the best decision as they welcomed children to a safe environment.

Alan, who used to be in the military, added: "We’ve had our challenges, but you try your best, and if you can turn that child’s life around, it’s amazing, because you know you’ve done something good.

"You’re changing a child’s life, but it also changes our lives as well.

"I hope we can get more foster carers out there because there’s plenty of children who need our help; just think of what you can actually do to a child’s life."

The campaign

St Helens Borough Council, whilst also supporting various national fostering campaigns including Foster Care Fortnight, has launched a campaign aimed at encouraging more people to foster.

The council currently look after 483 children, with 194 foster carers and 120 fostering households.

St Helens Borough Council's cabinet member for children and young people, Councillor Nova Chalton, said: "We value the amazing work all our foster carers carry out all year round so to hear Linda and Alan’s positive experience of life as foster carers is incredibly inspiring, and it’s reassuring that they’re keeping children and young people in our care safe in a loving home. 

"We have some very vulnerable children here in St Helens borough who require our support, and a good home provided by a caring foster family will go a long way in ensuring that a child or young person achieves their potential.

"If you think you can help by fostering a child or young person, I would urge you to contact our fostering team who will support you every step of the way."

For more information, visit http://www.sthelens.gov.uk/fostering.