The little things don’t mean a lot – they mean everything…

Here at the Acorns, we are always recruiting. That’s because in the UK there are currently over 9,000 new foster families needed to take care of the children already in the system. 9,000 families is a lot of families to find, but what are we really looking for?

We asked one of the children in our care to tell us what care is from her perspective, what being in foster care meant to her, and what qualities/skills she felt a foster carer should have. We found the answers really enlightening, so we thought we’d share them with you today along with the picture that was drawn for us.

What she said was…

Care is a place where you get looked after if you have a ruff time with your parents. 

• Comforts you when upset
• Happiness – to be happy for the child, look after a child if they were upset and play with them or take them to the park if they were upset
• Carer would need to be good at reading, have reading skills for bedtime stories
• Home should be quiet and peaceful, so you can sleep
• Important that a carer knows all the information about a child
• Good listening skills to be a good foster carer
• Need a good imagination so they can tell a good story
• Smartness so they can help with homework

From a child’s point of view, it really is that simple. Basically a foster carer just needs to be there for the child. They need to do the little things that mean everything to them and make such a BIG difference. If you can offer a child/children in care the support they need and create an environment in which they can shine, then we’d like to talk to you.