James Snowden

A close friend of mine at the school where we teach became a foster carer, and it was amazing hearing over a coffee how it was going. I said I might like to do it eventually and she said, "why not now?" She sent an email to her supervising social worker saying I was interested, and here I am now!

I’m a single gay man, which might not fit with people’s view of a stereotypical foster carer, but it’s now such a broad selection of people — I saw that first-hand going through the process. I also work full-time, which I thought would be a barrier but hasn't been at all.

I do short breaks, with the same children regularly staying with me, one boy and a brother and sister, and they stay at weekends and during the school holidays.

The benefits I’ve found are feeling that you’re making a difference and being able to give back. Some of these kids have had such difficult experiences, and it’s great to do fun stuff with them, like swimming, which they don’t get to do very often. They went down this cannonball flume where they came flying out of the end of it, and it was a big deal for them.

It’s also been good getting feedback from their main carers about how helpful and supportive it is to have me providing this short break care. One of the comments was "we know that when they go to you we can relax and don’t need to worry about them" and they can get a proper break.

Also, I’ve found that social workers ensure when matching children and foster carers that they’ll be a good fit — it’s been pretty tailored and purposeful, and the kids I’ve had to stay have all been absolutely brilliant.

The skills I’ve developed being a teacher have been very helpful for fostering, and now vice versa — a lot of people who work with children would be a great fit. Children who need fostering are the same as other kids in that they want to be engaged, to be loved, to be cared for, and I think a lot of people could do that.

I think if you've got the will to make it work and are going into it for the right reasons, with the ability and desire to help people, that’s a great starting point.

The social work team have been really supportive in my experience, and whatever skills you've got, they try to consider this in matching you to the kids who need support.

There’s been a shift towards trying to keep young people with their families where possible, and it’s really rewarding and obviously beneficial being able to support these kids to be able to do that. It shows that fostering has become even more important.