Huge rewards from fostering, says Wolverhampton mum Kerry

Kerry Worton began fostering children in 2019, after being a primary school teacher in the West Midlands for over 20 years.

She shared her fostering journey with a talented child in her care who she supported all the way to university.

Her plea comes as Government figures show that just six per cent of 19 to 21-year-olds who have been in care grow up to go on to university, a figure that has not changed for more than 10 years.

Kerry said: "Throughout my career as a teacher I always loved working with children.

"However, during the last few years, I was not getting the same job satisfaction that I had previously.

"I considered my options and thought I would take the leap into fostering, using the skills I have refined throughout my career with children.”

Kerry and her husband were placed with their foster child, Ryan, when he was 16.

Ryan was with his previous foster parents for over 10 years, but had to take the decision to stay in Wolverhampton when they moved to Wales.

Kerry said: "He had to make the difficult decision to stay in the Midlands and choose to live with a new foster family in order to continue with his education at the specialist college he was attending.

"When Ryan came to us he was a polite and respectful young man and over a short period of time, he settled in and was an established member of our close-knit family. It felt like he had always been part of us."

Ryan also had a great relationship with Kerry’s parents, who loved to be in his company.

Their birth daughter, who is 14, saw Ryan as another brother and their relationship was full of ‘banter and laughter’.

“My favourite thing about fostering is that it’s a family approach; everyone is involved and everyone loves it, which is the best thing,” added Kerry.

"Ryan maintained his desire to become an architect and go to university right from the moment he was in our care."

However, not everything was plain sailing, Kerry said: “Ryan struggled at times with the workload of his assignments at school.

"We would receive an email from his tutor raising their concerns about the lack of work completed, and not meeting certain deadlines.

"We had to have some honest conversations with Ryan and emphasised that following your dreams means working hard to get there."

Kerry believes that the support from the group Foster Care Associates (FCA) helped her greatly throughout this time.

She said: "Having a supervising social worker through FCA has been hugely beneficial for us. We never feel alone, we are always supported.

"As soon as I had the initial call with FCA years ago, I knew they were the right agency for us.

"The communication and support has always been second to none."

Ryan finally achieved the grades that would allow him to study architecture, his dream course, at his preferred university.

Kerry said: "We were so happy and excited for him when it was results day.

"The summer went far too quickly and before we knew it, we had Ryan’s leaving party where we asked everyone to bring an item for the student hamper.

Kerry is still in close touch with Ryan and hopes to visit him during February half term.

She said: “We drop him a text every couple of weeks to see how he is getting on.

"I hope to see him at the end of February and hear all about his uni experience so far."