Sometimes it's not for us here at Team Fostering to tell you about the lasting difference that foster care can make to a child. Sometimes the young people themselves can explain far better than we can about how the opportunities provided through Team Fostering can change a life.
R, a teenager with Team Fostering was supported by our Peter Richardson Memorial Fund, a charitable fund set up in memory of our founder Peter, to go on a trip to America with their friend's family. This was a dream experience for R, and they tell us more about their trip here:
"I'm R and I am a child who is in the care system, and I would love to thank Team Fostering for helping me have the chance by helping my fund towards me going on a life-changing experience to my trip to America. I would never of been able to go if it wasn’t for the amazing people at Team Fostering that supported me going to America and giving me as a young person in care the opportunity to experience something like this as 4 years ago I would never have been able to be handed the opportunity to go somewhere which I dreamed of as a child.
I loved and appreciated everyone second, minute and hour of the trip and experienced such beautiful memories as I went with my friend and her family, I visited places which I only ever saw on TV and the thought of me actually being there is so mind blowing and special to me, especially because of having a difficult upcoming. I went to New York City which as just beautiful and loved Times Square … and also saw the Statue of Liberty and went round Central Park and had some lovely food there. I also went to The Conjuring house which was quite a scary experience but at least I got the courage! And one of my favourite parts was the horse riding, it was such a calming and unforgettable thing to do especially because it was western... and the beach was something so unreal.
Apart from all the fun things that I got to do I also educated myself on how people live in America and how different it is compared to England! The food was such big portions and the drinks were lot bigger than the UK! , I went round shopping malls, supermarkets such as Target and Walmart and took some American candy back with me for everyone to try which was also different , I also got to see Newport which was just such a lovely little place with also amazing food and lots of nice scenery overcoming the sea, and even the houses are so big. The television channels are also such an amazing thing to watch, the flight was also so long but so good to say I had done it!
I wouldn’t have done this without your support and cannot thank you enough for what you have done for me, and I hope other children in my position get this opportunity as I understand how life-changing it is especially for children that are in the care system Thank you!"
To find out more about how the opportunities provided in foster care can change a young person's life, visit our Education Support page here, give us a call on 0800 292 2003, or leave your details here for a call back.