Married couple tom and karen support a young man, now in his early 20s, and two young girls from their home in Denbighshire.
the foster family
Tom and Karen began their foster journey after they discovered their desire to provide children with a stable family home.
"Tom worked in the police, and I worked as a teaching assistant where I gave 1-2-1 support to all sorts of primary school children. Some of them were in foster families. I saw these children being moved from one family to another and I could see the upset and distress it was causing them.
“It started to play on my mind and it made me think, you know? We had an empty house, as our children had grown up and moved out, and the support and structure to give these children a stable home – so, we thought we’d just bite the bullet and do it!”
"we're his mam and dad"
Karen and Tom have been fostering for over ten years now and believe they couldn’t do it without their Foster Wales Denbighshire team and the great relationship they’ve built with their supervising social worker.
“Just knowing she’s at the end of the phone makes us feel that we’re not on our own – we’re all in this together.”
They currently have two young girls staying with them, but their foster journey began with Josh, who joined their family at just eight years old.
“Before he came to us, he had been moved around different foster families. He just didn’t have stability or one person he could rely on.
“He’s now 23 and we couldn’t be prouder of him. Despite his start in life, he did well at school and stayed with us for all those years.
When Josh turned 18, Karen and Tom converted an outbuilding in their garden to provide him with some independence, before he felt ready to move on.
“He’s now built a life and a future for himself, has a career, and a family of his own. And we’re so proud to have played a part in that.”
"we get through it as a family"
“There were some really dark times in the beginning, but we got through it - as a family - because Josh needed us. We just took a deep breath and remembered that it wasn’t his fault.”
The journey wasn’t always easy, but they got through it together with the strength and support of their foster family unit.
want to start your own fostering story?
If you would love to welcome a young person into your family and to provide them with a stable environment to thrive and grow, like Karen and Tom, we’d love to hear from you.
Get in touch today, and let’s start your fostering journey.
want to learn more?
Find out more about fostering and what it could mean for you.
Our fostering success stories are based on the real-life experiences of Local Authority Foster Carers in Wales. To protect their privacy, and the privacy of the children and young people to whom they provide care, love, and support, all the names have been changed and actors have stepped in to help us tell their amazing stories.