Carers' stories

Paulette and Neville's story

Paulette and her husband Neville were approved as foster carers for Southwark six years ago, initially as short term carers but more recently as long term carers. During this period, they have cared for seven children in total and currently care for two brothers aged 12 and eight and one girl aged seven.

For many years Paulette worked in the care sector helping adults with learning difficulties, but was always interested in working with secondary school aged children. With three grown up children of their own, it was Paulette's mother who suggested they apply to become foster carers, knowing their passion for children, and they therefore decided to give fostering a go.

Helping children grow and develop

"The greatest thing about fostering is watching the children grow and develop from their first arrival with us. Most of the children who first came to us had a lot of baggage and emotional stories from their past and all we wanted to do was protect and help them. One of the girls that came to stay with us couldn't even read, despite being in primary school, but within six months, she was reading and writing and now you can't ever take a pen off her. Another boy we cared for was very shy and quiet when he first came to us, but since then he has come out of his shell and is doing things he never did, even giving us hugs now.

Learn to put yourself in their shoes

It hasn't all been easy and we've had some challenging children, one in particular who was so determined to go home to his mother that he kept running away and we've spent many nights out on the streets looking for him. However, one thing we've learnt through fostering is that no matter how they were treated, they still love their families so you've just got to put yourself in their shoes, give them their space but at the same time let them know you are there for them.

Fostering has been a hugely rewarding experience for us and I'm glad we've been given the chance to work with children again. We always tell our foster children that we treat them the same as how we treated our own children when they were growing up - if we tell them off, it's for their own good."

Page last updated: 30 June 2022