Real Stories, Real Lives: Meet Jade

“A short break foster carer is essentially creating that extended family which many young people in care don’t have experience of.”

Jade, daughter of Foster Carer and proud “big sister”

Jade listened to her mum, Shary, express her delight that the young person she had recently fostered was now happily singing away to himself. Her mum explained:

“You have to be comfortable and happy to sing away like that.”

Jade could hear the joy in her mum’s voice as she talked about fostering and the young person who was settling into the family more and more each day. Jade agreed the singsong marked a great milestone.

But it wasn’t just the lightness in his singing, Jade had noticed positive changes in the young person herself – he had recently asked for his hair to be cut shorter and no longer felt the need to hide behind long locks. The confidence was growing in him and Jade knew the love, care and encouragement he was receiving from her mum and wider family was partly the reason for this.

Jade watched in awe as her mum decided to become a foster carer with Kibble’s Fostering Service. She saw first-hand the experience her mum went through to welcome a young person into their family. Initially the plan was to change a child’s life for the better, however it turned out that the young person was the one who enriched their entire family’s life. They brought so much happiness and fun, creating a completely new family dynamic. Now, Jade along with her mum could not imagine life without him.

Inspired by her mum, Jade has since decided that she would like to follow in her mum’s footsteps and one day before a foster carer herself. The whole experience has been so heartening and made Jade realise that she too wanted to help change the lives of other children.

Becoming a Short Break Foster Carer

At the young age of 24, Jade and her partner decided to look further into fostering and had a chat with the team at Kibble. They were able to tell her all about the various roles available, along with the requirements or the role and her suitability.

She knew that many of the children and young people at Kibble had faced challenging circumstances in their pasts and wanted to be able to make a real difference.

“We know fostering can seem like a big undertaking, especially for people our age. However, we know it will be absolutely worth it if we can change the life of even one child.” Jade

Following her training with Kibble and with continued support from the fostering team, Jade has since become a short break foster carer. The role involves providing support to a young person when their foster carer needs to take a break.

She added: “A short break foster carer is essentially creating that extended family which many young people in care don’t have experience of.”

Jade is determined to bring a positive change to the life of a young person. She has her mum’s advice to help guide her and the full support of the Kibble fostering team.