Fostering a disabled child
The role of an independent fostering agency
What support is available for foster carers?
How to choose a foster care agency
Foster Care Fortnight: How to raise awareness about children in foster care
Can I choose who I foster?
How to foster
What are the benefits of fostering with an independent fostering agency?
What happens when a child is taken into care?
Fostering process: what happens on an initial home visit?
Can you foster if you have mental health issues?
Fostering with local authority vs independent agency
Interview: Life as a foster parent during the pandemic
A complete guide to becoming a foster carer
How Are Children in Foster Care Matched with Carers?
Foster Care Budgeting Tips
Becoming A Foster Carer
Benefits of becoming a foster parent
What is a Care Leaver?
What is a Foster Carer?
What is Foster Care?
Do I become a Foster Carer?
Fostering Regulations
How much do Foster Parents get paid?
How to Foster a Child
How long does it take to become a Foster Carer?
How to foster – everything you ever wanted to know
Facts about Foster Care
What are the Foster Care requirements?
Foster Care Handbook
Foster Carer Job Description
Changing IFA - Transferring to Capstone
Fostering Definition
Foster Care Statistics
What does Every Child Matters Mean for Foster Parents?
Fostering Stories
Fostering Children UK
Children needing Fostering
8 reasons why a child may be taken into care
Fostering as a Career
Looked after Children
Can you foster if you smoke or vape?
A guide to fostering assessments
LGBTQ+ Fostering
Equality, Inclusion & Anti-discriminatory Practice in Foster Care
What can disqualify you from foster care?
Can you foster if you’re on benefits?
Top transferable job skills to become a foster carer
Fostering as a same sex couple
Fostering while renting
Is there an age limit for fostering in the UK?
Do foster carers get a pension?
How to foster a child: A step by step guide
How do DBS Checks Work?
Can I foster if...?
Mythbusting the top 10 Foster Care Myths
Can I foster if I am disabled?
LGBT Fostering Mythbusting
Can I foster if I have pets?
Can I Foster A Child?
Can I Foster and Work?
Can you Foster with a Criminal Record
Can Single People Foster?
LGBT Family and Foster Care
Fostering across Cultures
Muslim Fostering
Christian Foster Care
Sikh Fostering
Empty Nest Syndrome and Foster Care
Can I Foster?
Fostering Babies and Young Children
Fostering Babies - Myths
Focusing on Parent & Child Fostering
Fostering Siblings
Fostering Teenagers
Fostering Teenagers - Breaking down the Myths
Fostering Unaccompanied and Asylum Seeking Children
Mother and Baby Foster Placements
Private Fostering
Therapeutic Fostering - Multi-disciplinary Assessment Treatment & Therapy Service (MATTS)
Young Children Fostering Placements
Difference between short and long-term fostering
Reunification and Birth Parents: A Guide for Foster Carers
What is an EHC Plan? A Guide for Foster Carers
How to prepare a child for becoming a care leaver
Children who foster: impact of fostering on birth children
Fostering LGBTQ+ Youth
How to prepare your home for a foster child
How to help a lonely child: A Guide for Foster Carers
What are the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services?
10 tips for foster children's education
How to prepare your foster child for secondary school
Tips for coping when foster placements end
Tips for foster parents during Coronavirus
What happens if foster parents get divorced?
5 ways to manage Mother's Day with foster children
Tips for managing foster children's bedtime routines
How to handle foster child bullying
Fostering allowances and the gender pay gap
What discounts can foster carers get?
How to adopt from Foster Care
5 ways to manage Father's Day for children in foster care
8 most common fostering challenges
FosterTalk Membership with Capstone Foster Care
Supporting foster children's contact with birth families
A guide to independent fostering
Keeping Children Safe Online: A Guide For Foster Carers
Movies About Foster Care
Play-based learning strategies for foster carers
A Guide to the Staying Put Program
How to deal with empty nest syndrome
How to recognise signs of depression in foster children
Can you take a foster child on holiday?
Tips and advice on fostering with a disability
10 tips on connecting with your Foster Child
Fostering vs Adoption - What's the difference?
How Fostering can change a future
How to adopt from Foster Care
How to encourage children to read in Foster Care
How to prepare a Foster Child's bedroom
Reading and Storytelling with Babies and Young Children
Supporting Children's Learning
The 20 most recommended books Foster Carers and young people should read
Things you can do when your children leave home
The impact of early childhood traumas on adolescence and adulthood
Anxious Disorders in Foster Children
What is sexual abuse and sexual violence
Foster Child behaviour management strategies
Foster Parent Advice: What to expect in your first year of fostering
Capstone's twelve tips at Christmas
10 celebrities who grew up in Foster Care
Celebrating our Children and Young People
Could Millenials be the solution to the Foster Care crisis?
Do you work in Emergency Services?
Form F Assessor and Assessment Training
Foster Care Fortnight
Improving Children's Welfare - Celebrating Universal Children's Day
It's time to talk about Mental Health and Foster Care
New Year - New Career - Become a Foster Carer
Promoting the rights and wellbeing of persons with Disabilities
Refugee Week
Young people and Mental Health in a changing world
Young People Charities
When the pandemic hit, many people felt as though their lives were turned upside down. Life as we knew it came to a halt as everyone tried their best to adjust to a new normal. The national lockdown was hard for everyone, especially those with children – keeping the little ones busy wasn’t so easy when many fun activities were off-limits.
In our blog, we spoke to foster parents, Gemma and Kate, who gave us some insight into how foster families were coping during the lockdown.
Gemma and Kate started fostering together in June and have been foster parents for almost three years - their first foster placement was a short-term placement and lasted only six months. Kate is 43 years old and works as a senior traffic warden, while Gemma is 39 years old, and her full-time role is fostering. Both parents like to be equally involved with the children and split their parenting responsibility.
When learning about Gemma and Kate, we discussed their life under lockdown whilst fostering two girls – a six-year-old and a four-year-old.
The girls came to live with Gemma and Kate on Valentine’s Day 2020. They had previously lived with their grandma and found the first initial weeks of separation quite hard. During this time, the youngest was not at school or nursery as she was too young, while the oldest was at preschool. When Gemma describes first meeting the girls she says:
“Even though they had everything taken away, they handled it well. Contact was a bit hard to start with, especially for our eldest, who was close to her Mum, so separation was quite difficult.”
When asked to explain how the commencement of lockdowns affected the girls, Gemma replied:
“To be honest, it didn’t really affect them too badly. They had nice weather, and perhaps saw it as a bit of holiday away from school. Activities outside helped us get closer to the girls quicker, as were able to spend a lot of time together to bond. Once school reopened again, they had already had that foundation period of settling in with us carers, so had more confidence when they returned.”
In the midst of the lockdown, Gemma and Kate’s case is quite unique as due to the girls’ ages, they didn’t have the added pressures of home-schooling. This experience is perhaps not the most reflective of many families across the UK, as many children had to adapt to learning from virtual lessons online. Gemma commented:
“As the girls were young, we didn’t have great pressures with home-schooling or social support networks. Our eldest was 4 and the youngest nearly 2 – so we got away with not home-schooling as much.”
With the introduction of new social distancing measures, maintaining regular contact with the girls’ family members became increasingly difficult. Gemma recounted their experience:
“In the beginning, the girls had some physical contact with their parents. However, as the lockdown progressed, we had to settle for three facetimes a week – and that was a bit difficult, as it's hard to get little ones to sit still. Especially when the weather was so nice, and they wanted to play in the garden! And we think their Mum found that a bit hard, too. Plus, there was nothing really to be updated on, as no one could go anywhere!”
Whilst many aspects of the lockdown were challenging, Gemma felt that the experience did also help her and Kate’s relationship with the girls. They were able to solely focus on both the girls and get to know them better. Gemma was also happy to announce that they had been approved for long term foster care.
When asked if they see lockdown as a blessing for the relationships they have with the girls, or if they wish they’d been able to experience ‘normal life’, Gemma commented:
“It’s pretty normal for us really – as much as it affected us in the beginning, such as losing the ability to meet our own family as much and spend time with them, it cemented our relationship with the girls. We’ve also made up for it since then, and have had lots of family time with our own families and friends.”
If you feel touched by Gemma and Kate’s story and are interested in becoming foster parents - our friendly team of experts are always on hand to help. Find out more about how to become a foster carer today.
If you’ve got any questions or would like to find out more about fostering with Capstone, fill out the form below.
An experienced fostering advisor from your local area will then be in touch.
Start the conversation today. Our team of friendly advisors are on hand to answer any foster care questions you may have. We can offer you honest and practical advice that can help you decide if becoming a foster carer is the right path for you.
