I have always wanted to foster but having seven children of our own and no spare room it wasn't possible. It was only upon inheriting my parent's larger house and some of our older children moving in with their partners that we were able to go ahead and start the process. Most of our friends thought we were mad as it was now "our time" and that "The best part of being a grandparent was handing the children back at the end of the day." Something we obviously wouldn't be doing! 

We decided to ignore all of this and initially started our discussions with the local authority. However, it became clear that this wasn't the best route for us, both in terms of support for the children and us, plus financially. We also had friends who were with an IFA which made helping each other out simpler. 

It took three months from being approved to getting our placement, it was possibly the most stressful part of the process. After the intensity of form filling we had time to catch our breath and worry if it really was for us. I had a huge amount of doubt, my husband encouraged me to hold on and shortly after, we got news that two children were coming to live with us. We have recently completed our first year. It's been a steep learning curve, moments we were able to pull on our own experiences to help the children and times we were presented with new challenges where our wonderful supporting social worker was able to share her knowledge and understanding to show us the best way forward. We've had respite children with varying needs too, all adding to our skills. I went from being a stay at home, home educating Mum to joining and speaking at my first teams meeting, participating in focus groups, networking and attending events in the Houses of Commons and Lords what a whirlwind!

Our children are now on a permanent placement, we feel blessed that they have come into our lives, our first foster children and their first time in care. We are often exhausted and occasionally think was this actually a good idea? But it was a brilliant decision, all our family say they wouldn't be without them. Why not give it a go?