Meet Our Foster Carers

Leanne & Dave

Find out more from Leanne on their journey as a Foster Carer with Evergreen.

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Leanne, when did you first become a foster carer with Evergreen Foster Care?  

We joined Evergreen Foster care on the 20th March 2021.

 

What profession were you in before becoming a foster carer?

I was Head of Customer Services for the South of the UK for an Occupational Health company and Dave is still a guitar teacher and musician, working full time.

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What made you decide that fostering was something you wanted to pursue?

We had talked about possibly fostering in the future and I think the pandemic and lockdown made us reassess, especially for myself. I really wanted to do something that felt more important, something that made a difference to someone, so we looked at fostering.

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Why did you decide to become a foster carer with Evergreen?

The recruitment advert came up in my Facebook feed, after looking at what they do I felt it was the right agency. If I’m honest it came up just at the right time, like fate.

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Could you explain a little about a Foster Carers day to day role?

Wow, what a question! You are a child’s carer, but you provide them support, be the best listener, be their advocate and voice amongst lots of professionals, be their friend, their safe person, their cheerleader, hold them up when their feeling low, bring them down when they deregulate, help build their confidence, try to learn about them and their behaviours and what that means, encourage them and so much more.

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We also complete paperwork which we’re given full training and support with.

 

Would you say you are well supported by Evergreen in terms of training and advice when you need it?

Yes, fostering is hard, and you will need your agency’s support and they provide it and more when the tough gets really tough.

 

What has been the most rewarding experience you have had from fostering?

It’s fun, I’ve done things I never would of if I hadn’t fostered. I’ve learnt so much about people, myself, my family and the fostering system. My eyes are open to so much more.

 

What advice would you give to someone who maybe reading this interview and thinking about potentially becoming a foster carer?

Speak to the agency and if you’re unsure come meet the current carers. Meeting other carers really helped me feel confident in my decision to go for it. Be open minded, it’s going to be hard if you go forward but it will be worth it if you’re serious.