Dionne's blog

After spending almost twenty years as a neonatal nurse, last year Dionne decided to leave her career to be a foster carer. Now, along with her husband and grown-up daughter, Dionne is currently fostering two toddlers.

Dionne has shared her experience of becoming a foster carer after thinking about it for so long.

“We have two children of our own aged 24 and 21, and when they were both really little, we said we would love to do fostering. We only had two bedrooms, so we had to wait until one of our children moved out. But then we wanted to help as many foster children as we can.”

Swapping a career for in healthcare for fostering full-time was of course, a big step for Dionne and her family. But she has no regrets and is glad she made the decision to become a foster carer.
“For me, it was for the best. Sometimes you work somewhere too long, you need to do something different. And it got to that point. I didn't want to hate my job. I wanted to leave on a on a good note. And I did!”

Plus, fostering children has supported Dionne’s mental wellbeing.

“For me, my mental health is a lot better because of fostering. I was working full-time 13-hour day and night shifts in a hospital. Looking after children is obviously 24 hours a day, but you set a routine in your own home.”

Even though foster care is always on, it is rewarding. “You’re actually at home looking after them, going out and doing nice things with the children and having family time.”

At the moment, Dionne’s family are caring for two siblings, and her family are already seeing the difference they are making to children’s lives.
“Obviously the routine was a big change for us, but we have settled really well. We had to install the stair gates and safety plugs and all of those things! Seeing them settling in is really nice. They’ve both made lots of different improvements.”

Plus, the smallest family member – Theo the dog – is joining in with supporting the children too!

“I’ve got a little dog called Theo, we’ve had to make sure he would be OK with children and luckily, he is. He loves the children!” Dionne explained.
“He thinks he’s a little therapy dog. If they’re upset, he’ll come over. He puts his head on them, as if to say; ‘I’ll look after you.”

Every one of our foster carers has a network of support – from their supervising social worker (SSW), OASIS network and other carers.

Since her first foster child last summer, Dionne has found a community of foster carers in her local town.

“I have a foster buddy who lives near me. We were paired up and have become really good friends, she’s been messaging asking how everything is going, do we need any help? Then once we knew we would have two children with us, they have asked if we have everything we need.”

“The children’s social work team and my supervising social worker have been really supportive.”

And finally – what would Dionne say to someone who is thinking about becoming a foster carer for the first time?

“Do it! It’s the best decision we have ever made.”