Do you live in Buckinghamshire?
Have you considered foster caring?
Fostering.
Fostering provides vulnerable children who cannot live with their own families a temporary, alternative home. The children and young people who need care in Buckinghamshire come from diverse cultural backgrounds. Each individual case is unique with emergency and long-term placements required for children of all ages. However, they all have one thing in common. They all need a nurturing, family-based, safe environment in their time of need.
The demand for new foster carers continues to incrementally increase year-after-year. At Simply Fostering we are dedicated to engaging new foster carers in Buckinghamshire to help alleviate the pressures on the local councils.
Factors to consider before deciding to foster.
Many people have misconceptions about what it is to be a foster carer. Being responsible for a vulnerable child can be a great, time-consuming challenge. It is vital that prior to making an application you subjectively assess your own suitability to be taking on such a formative role in a child’s life. Each child comes from a unique situation, each with its own difficulties. They may have been neglected or abused, either physically or emotionally. Many will not understand why they are in their present circumstance. Every child will demand your patience, sympathy, and support. Therefore, it is vitally important that you examine your expectations before beginning on this journey.
As well as your own individual suitability you will also have to assess your personal circumstances at the time of application. For example, the needs of a child vary wildly depending upon their age. Would you be more suited to an infant or potentially an older child in full-time education? Perhaps you already have children of your own, in which case it is important to consider how this may affect them and what sacrifices you are willing to make. You will also have to have the flexibility and communication skills to work in partnership with your local social workers to implement a structured plan for each child.
Finally, it is important to remember that foster care is not a permanent arrangement. You must be prepared to say goodbye to a child to whom you have become a surrogate family. The potential emotional impact this can have on you is not negligible. Of course, your local foster agency will be able to provide you with support and training but it is also important to have a strong personal support network around you of friends and/or family.
Becoming a foster carer is a selfless act. Potentially you can have such a positive and enriching experience on somebody else’s life and they in turn will surprise and delight you in ways you cannot yet imagine.
Simply Fostering Application Service.
We provide free comprehensive information about foster care and help you to reduce the risk of choosing the wrong fostering agency.
Our aim is to encourage people to consider fostering and to streamline the process of application. Once you have completed our eligibility quiz, one of our social work experts will match you and your situation with the most suitable fostering agencies in Buckinghamshire, from our UK Agency Database.
It is important to remember that, just like the children in need of care, each foster agency is unique. Each has its own levels of support, both in terms of allowances and in access to respite care and support groups. Not all agencies offer the fostering of infants, many are dedicated to a particular age group. Some agencies may demand that foster care becomes your full-time occupation whereas others are more flexible and understand that you may need to supplement their allowance with other employment.
Want to foster? Let’s get together.
If you have read through this and decided that fostering is right for you and that you are right for fostering, then congratulations, Simply Fostering would like to hear from you! We welcome applications from all cultures, sexual-orientations and age-groups. In deciding to foster a child you will be joining an exulted community of people who provide loving and nurturing environments to children in desperate need. Thank you!
To find out more and to take the next step towards a career as a foster carer, use our no obligation, free agency matching service, and get fostering right the first time!
Buckinghamshire population and demography.
Buckinghamshire is a rapidly growing area. In 2016 Buckinghamshire’s population rose by 6,320, or 1.2%, to reach 534,720; according to Buckinghamshire County Council. This increase was the 2nd highest amongst the 27 county council areas. The largest district of Buckinghamshire is Aylesbury Vale.
Aylesbury Vale’s population has risen by 10.4% since 2011, making it the 5th highest rate of growth of any local authority in Great Britain. In 2016 Aylesbury Vale experienced its largest influx of new residents in a single year, with 4,406 people to the area. This took Aylesbury Vale’s share of Buckinghamshire’s population to 69.7% with a total population of 193,113.
However, Buckinghamshire is one of the least densely populated unitary councils in the UK with only 342 residents per square kilometre. The demographic of the population is split between metropolitan hubs, such as Aylesbury Vale, Milton-Keynes and High Wycombe, and the rural districts of the Chilterns. This makes the area quite challenging for both the Local Authority and Independent Fostering Agencies to recruit foster carers from.
Buckinghamshire Needs More Foster Carers! So contact us today!
