With so many children entering the UK care system every year, fostering has become a vital lifeline for many youngsters who for whatever reason, don’t have a stable or loving home life.
Fostering exists to help children and teenagers lead as normal a life as possible, when doing so under the care of their birth parents or other appropriate adults, isn’t an option. The UK is desperately in need of more foster parents, and if you’re considering choosing it as a career, you’d be hard pushed to find a more rewarding one. with so many opportunities to make a very real difference to a child or teenagers life, you can help them find a sense of stability and belonging, and by fostering love, you can make them feel special, wanted, and worthy.
While there are many more rewarding reasons to become a foster parent, here are 5 of the most significant:
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You’ll gain a sense of fulfilment
Nothing will give you a greater reward than witnessing a child from a broken background, finally feeling safe and loved in your care. No matter whether they will be with you for days, weeks, months, or years, you can do so much to boost their confidence and self-worth in a short space of time, that your actions could well shape their future and the rest of their lives.
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You have an opportunity to make a real difference
Some of the children that enter the care system are very vulnerable, and some may never have experienced the love and selfless care that you as a foster parent, are able to devote to them. Through patience and understanding, you can help them understand more about the situation they’ve found themselves in, and show them that nothing that has happened is their fault. You have an opportunity to give a child who once had no hope of a bright future, a reason to get out of bed with a smile on their face every morning, and over time, their self-confidence and independence will flourish.
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You can watch your foster children grow
Whether you have children of your own or not, watching your foster kids grow and emerge as healthy, happy young adults after years of patient love and care, is a feeling that’s hard to substitute. Even if they are only with you for a short time, many children choose to stay in touch with their foster parents, giving you a wonderfully fulfilling chance to watch them grow, knowing that you played a part in their happiness.
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You can help children in need
Ultimately, fostering is all about helping others who are less fortunate than ourselves, and when it comes to helping vulnerable children or teenagers, while it may not always be easy to help them, you will experience feelings of such satisfaction when you do, that you’ll wonder why you didn’t become a foster parent much sooner. Life is all about showing kindness and compassion to others, and fostering gives you the chance to do that tenfold.
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You can make a positive contribution to society
By fostering children in a healthy, loving environment, you can give something positive back to society. Studies show that children who are raised in foster homes often do much better in high school, and frequently go on to become successful in their adult life. While successful of course means different things to different people, it’s more likely that you can help them to stay out of trouble in the future, have meaningful relationships with others, and stay employed for longer.
The rewards of fostering truly are bountiful, and to discover for yourself just how remarkable and fulfilling a career as a foster parent can be, reach out to a local fostering organization for more information, today.
