Saturday 3rd October Blog
On Saturday I took Alice to the Home For Good Summit held in Oxford. Home For Good is a charity that seeks to promote fostering and adoption in churches across the UK. They are committed to finding creative solutions to helping find new families to adopt and foster. One of the ways they do this is to find people to be ‘champions’ in local areas, promoting this through churches across the country. This provides a valuable support network to existing foster carers and adoptive parents, as well as encouraging many more families to consider whether this is for them.
This is the first time I have been to the summit. My friend Grace invited me. She goes every year with her foster son. To be honest I thought it was just a good opportunity to meet up with Grace, as well as Alice meeting up with her friend too. The summit turned out to be much more that just a catch up though. It was a really inspiring day with lots of professionals there as well as foster carers and adoptive parents sharing their stories.
It was incredible to hear how many children’s lives had been radically changed by individuals and families getting involved. The impact is so great because of the wider families and support networks that are involved.
It was a good reminder for me about the difference we are making with Alice. Day to day it can seem like a grind and we don’t notice the impact. It is at days like this when we can take a step back and reflect – that we really notice the difference. More importantly it was a chance to reflect on the impact that Alice has made on our lives. We have changed and grown so much as a family and as individuals because she is in our lives and part of our family.
I felt encouraged to keep going, to keep persevering even when it is hard because I realise in a years time when I return to the summit we will have moved forward again. We will have had ups and downs, but we will be moving forward. I also felt challenged that maybe I could be someone who could champion fostering and adoption in my neighbourhood.
A Less Ordinary Family Blog
