Foster carer Oli shares his motivation for becoming a foster carer and opens up about most rewarding fostering moments
We asked Oli about his fostering journey and how his profession as a youth worker helped him to decide to start fostering young people in care.
Why did you decide to become a foster carer?
I worked with young people for a long time as a youth worker and one of the difficulties I had was that I would see such great need with young people. I was only able to offer support for an hour or two through the work that I was doing, but I would still have to send them back to a situation that was bad.
I always wished that I would be able to take them home with me and give them better opportunities in their lives - and that's effectively what fostering does.
How many children have you had in placement?
We currently have two young people in our placement, one has been with us just over 12 months now, and the other one is just coming up for six months. They were our first two foster children and they're still with us now.
What do you find most rewarding about fostering?
My favourite thing in the world is seeing the confidence of these young people grow.
Things that we have taken for granted because we've experienced them in our childhood, like going to the beach or having a picnic in the park - for some young people these are completely alien concepts that they haven't experienced before. That smile on their face when they get these opportunities and their confidence growing even in silly ways - like a child answering you back, which you would normally associate as a bad thing, but it's wonderful to see that they're in this position where they feel they can answer you back on something!
Watch in full
Find out more about Oli’s fostering journey, the joys of seeing young people thrive under your care and hear what advice he would give to someone thinking about becoming a foster carer.