Becoming a foster carer can be an exciting but sometimes daunting prospect, but it needn’t be when there is so much help and support available.

If you have a safe, stable family home life and want to dedicate your time to taking care of babies, children and young people in the area, there’s no need to feel worried or anxious about the application process. You will likely have a long list of questions that need answers in order for you to decide whether fostering is right for you.

The dedicated recruitment team at Foster4 can help and they will be giving their advice next week.

This week, Alex and Andy share their experiences having become foster carers on the first day of lockdown last year. Here are their top tips for thriving in the first year.

Alex said: “I’d grown up as part of a fostering household, as my parents have always fostered, so I knew the ins and outs as well as the ups and downs from the start.

“It never put us off, in fact, it gave us absolute reassurance that fostering was absolutely what we wanted to do.

“We could see how well my parents had been supported and the type of training they’d received, as well as the sheer joy they had got from caring for these children and young people.

“Even though we had so much insight into the role, we went through the usual route of making our enquiry, milling over the information and writing list after list of questions to ask the team.”

The couple’s top tips:

• Have an open mind. We’d originally thought we were going to care for one child, until a family of three, who desperately needed to be able to live together, came along!.

• Don’t see children and young people as a number- age really is just that. This is particularly true with children who may have experienced trauma and neglect, who will develop at a different pace.

• Consider each child you are approached for as an individual. The fostering team will have approached you for that specific child or family group for a good reason. They have matching criteria that they will have explored extensively before even picking up the phone to call you. Take confidence from the fact that they think you’re up to it.

• Ask lots of questions about specific support for individual children’s needs. This will help reassure you that you know exactly what will be provided and asked of you.

• Find out as much as you can about the children’s personalities before they come to stay. Do they like certain superheroes? What’s their favourite pizza? Children and young people remember the little things that have made them feel welcome, in what is often a very challenging time for them.

Feeling inspired?

The next fostering information session will take place on Monday, June 21 at 6pm.

Visit www.foster4.co.uk/enquire to book your place.

For more information about fostering visit foster4.co.uk or call 01925 444100. You can also email fosteringrecruitment@ warrington.gov.uk or use @foster4cheshire on Facebook and Instagram.