Elaine and Keith

"In May 2014, a month after we were approved as foster carers with Gloucestershire County Council, two brothers came to stay with us. They were beautiful boys and only just five and eight.

I remember the day they arrived – one dark haired and the other blonde. They had come into care in the clothes they stood up in and had already been in two foster homes before they came to us. They were scared, timid and had no idea what was happening to them or what had happened to the rest of their family, including their mum and five other brothers and sisters.

They had never had a birthday party or been on holiday.

We settled them in to our home, fed them, clothed them and made them feel safe and secure. I read them stories and they started to understand that the world was bigger than what they’d known before. One wet the bed and the other had night terrors but only because of the emotional trauma they’d experienced. They had come from a background with no rules, boundaries or discipline, so this took them some getting used to. The little one needed constant reassurance that we were still in the house when he went to bed.

So much has happened during the last six years and there have been many ups and downs. Times when I really thought I couldn’t do it. Now, I wouldn’t change anything.  Not the experiences, not the learning, not the boys. I love them both as if they were my own. My birth daughter has flourished being in a larger family unit. She is kind and caring and better for being a sibling. There were times when she would cry and tell me to make them go away. If ever I had felt having foster children was detrimental to her happy childhood, I would have stopped in a heartbeat. I am so glad we got through this together. 

The boys are happy, safe and flourishing. We have helped them, and still are helping them, overcome their difficulties. When you foster siblings, they help each other. The bond my two boys have with each other is unbreakable. I love the relationship that they share and I love the fact that my daughter enjoys being part of a sibling group and that the boys call her their sister.

We have the boys into adulthood and I wouldn’t be without them. They are part of our family and of course our families and friends just accept that.

I have had some challenging jobs in the past and fostering is by far the hardest thing I have ever done but also the most rewarding. You are really making a difference. I know what we have achieved as a family and I am so very proud to be a foster carer."