Sobia and Akmal believe that having regular contact with the boys’ parents is important.

‘The boys have regular contact with their parents, this is important, and they see their Mum every week and their father every 2 weeks. They have a positive relationship with each other but at the start both Mum and Dad were concerned, however the boys Mum has brought food to the meetings which they eat together. We, as the boy’s foster carers share the food with them too and when it was their birthdays the boys made them presents, and we sent them a birthday cake back. It is nice to see how they respect their parents regardless of what has happened in the past, and their parents know that boys are in a safe place with us.’

‘Previously, the main focus was to help all the boys settle together, but our sons have asked questions about why the boys’ parents were not able to look after them?’

‘At the time before the boys came it was mainly theoretical because we had input from many social workers and the team at Caritas Care; we could explain everything to them. However, now the boys are here, it is real, and we are in the now.’

‘There was a few times when potential placements didn’t happen, and then when the boys came it happened quite quickly.’ ‘The boys came to us in the clothes they were standing in; that was all they had, so my boys offered their Nintendo’s to them, trainers, their clothes, toys and books to help them to feel welcome.’

‘That part will always stay with me because the boys just worked with us. They knew they had to help their Mum and Dad to do what they had to do to make the boys settled; we are so proud of them both.’

‘We have a very large and local family network to support us. We have regularly had BBQ’s and parties and the boys have embedded themselves into our family.’

‘At the beginning of fostering, it is scary and daunting, and this puts people off from doing it as social workers are digging deep into our personal lives. However, as one family member said to me, ‘wow, you are like having two sets of twins overnight, you’ve gone from two to four children!’

‘They have also said how inspired they are by what we have done and know that yes, it can be done.’

‘Akmal and I have family members who are now thinking about fostering, and my younger sister is really keen to foster. We are seen as being inspirational in our community, and fostering is now seen as doable because they have seen us doing it.’

‘We are loving advocating fostering within our community, and also, we are proud advocates for Caritas Care.’