Michelle and Raymond - Tree House foster carers

“We just knew that we could make a difference to their lives.”

Michelle and her husband Raymond have been fostering with Warwickshire County Council for three years and were inspired to join following their work with other young people in care.

Michelle said “I’ve always worked with children and young people and some of the young people we came across over the years were in care and we both just knew that we could make a difference to their lives. It just seemed like the right time. We’d been together a long time, were settled and stable and felt we had a lot to offer. We’ve now been fostering for three years, and we’re really enjoying the journey.”

“We chose Warwickshire County Council to start our Fostering journey as they were our local authority. Warwickshire County Council’s Fostering team replied quickly to our enquiry and sent us out some information and then we had a chat over the phone, it was an easy process.”

“After a couple of years our Fostering social worker suggested that we look into a new scheme called Tree House Fostering, which is a role that supports a number of branch foster carers by providing a range of support to them and a ‘home from home’ to the children they foster. Even though we’d only been foster carers for a short time relatively, we knew that we’d already gained lots of experience with a range of ages and additional needs too. With the support of our fostering social worker, we decided to join the Tree House Scheme as we knew that we could support other foster carers as well as their young people.”

“Our role as Tree House Foster carers is really varied. We’re available on the phone if anyone wants to chat and once a month, we meet with all our carers for a coffee morning where we talk and share ideas and experiences. It’s always relaxed and supportive. We also arrange a monthly get-together with all of our young people, sometimes we go bowling or to the park for a picnic, it’s a great way for them to socialise and feel part of a wider community.”

“In addition, we support other carers by organising sleepovers, we do these on a pre-planned basis, but we can also take emergencies too. The young people have often met us before, so they appreciate that they’re staying with familiar people and tell us that it reduces anxiety around going for respite or sleepovers. We can accommodate up to 2 young people at the same time, which means we can provide sleepovers for siblings and children who are placed together with the same foster carers. Sometimes we have a couple of families at the same time which is always great fun.”

As part of the network, Treehouse Foster Carers have access to psychology support and lots of training opportunities to guide them along the way.

Michelle explains, “We have regular support from a psychologist which is great as she has an in depth understanding of any issues that might arise, the sessions are always really helpful, supportive and valuable to us. Ray and I have received various aspects of training, from the induction training when we initially became Tree House foster carers to training on interacting with other adults and teamwork. We cared for a young person with Global Developmental Delay so we asked for training in that area, which was provided. I know that if there’s ever anything I would like more training on, or even just a refresher course, that it would be provided by the fostering team at Warwickshire County Council.”

"We call ourselves a family unit within the Tree House Community, a support network that can be called on at any time, not only do we offer stability to the children and young people, but also to the other foster carers.”

Michelle advises, “If anyone was considering fostering, I highly recommend enquiring. Beginning your journey offering respite care is a great way to start as you can offer support for weekends or holidays and go from there, it’s a great way to build your confidence.

Being a foster carer is about providing that bit of stability to children and young people who might not have had that in their lives so far, it really is so rewarding.

”Michelle and Raymond are one of 150 fostering households caring for children and young people in Warwickshire. Foster carers offer stability and support to vulnerable children and young people who can't be with their own families. They are well supported by a dedicated team and help to keep Warwickshire children in the county, close to family and community links. Warwickshire is looking for more people to join this network of passionate and caring individuals just like Michelle and Raymond - could this be you?