After I split up with the mother of my two sons, with the boys dividing their time between our homes, I had more spare time which I could focus on another child. After I discussed the idea with my boys, I decided to become a foster carer and applied to TACT.

The first placement I had was a British boy aged 15, who ended up with me for 3 years. He’d had a troubled childhood, being in care since he was little and had a history of skipping school, taking drugs and running away from his previous foster family.  There were often challenging times, when he got in trouble with his school or the police. I tried to take a firm, supportive and patient approach and it was so satisfying to see him settle down at school and then continue onto college.

Currently, we have an Albanian asylum seeker staying with us. He travelled to Albania on the back of a lorry and was begging on the streets due to his parents throwing him out. We had to teach him how to take care of himself – in Albania he never washed, so he had to learn even things like showering and brushing his teeth. At first, he didn’t speak any English – but now he’s flourishing at school, which is brilliant to see.

Juggling the separate challenges which are posed by both my sons and the children in foster care can be a challenge, but I spend quality time with each of them and love them all. I believe it has helped me to teach Zachariah and Maxwell how important it is to help others. Yes fostering can be challenging, but seeing the difference which you can make to a young person’s life is so rewarding.