Melanie (birth mum) and Emma (foster carer)

Since he was little, Oliver has always required more time and extra support. He was diagnosed with autism at three years old and he has stayed with foster carers for respite care since he was six.

Now 15 years old, Oliver has been staying with foster carer Emma Duffy and her family for a few nights a month for over three years, and it has made such a difference.

Oliver’s autism can be challenging to manage, he often needs extra time or attention. My husband and I have one older daughter and, when Oliver was born, our attention was taken away from our daughter. Fostering allows us to have that time back as a family and now our daughter is older it allows me and my husband to be together just us two. Fostering has brought us back from breaking point.

I’ve had a few health scares recently which meant I was in hospital for months on end, and fostering was a real lifeline for our family.

Sending Oliver to foster carers like Emma and her family has made such a difference to our lives, but also to Oliver’s life.

Due to health reasons I’m not able to do certain things that others take for granted. It takes a lot more energy and Oliver needs entertaining constantly.

Emma and her family have given Oliver so many more opportunities. We trust her implicitly with Oliver and he loves them, they’re like his second family and he has a second home with them.

The whole family treat Oliver like their own, and they even involve him in family occasions. Emma also has an older son and they get on like brothers, Oliver looks up to him as a role model.

They take him places that I haven’t been able to, and this has meant that Oliver has learnt so much and developed new skills just by being with them. He’s developed so much over the past three years, from learning how to wash himself, make his bed, clean the table, but also developing independence and social skills.

These skills may seem small but, for someone like Oliver who has additional needs, these are big developmental changes and will help him as he continues to grow.

Fostering has not only changed our lives but has made our lives better, and it’s opened a whole new world for Oliver. We are forever grateful to Emma and her family for fostering Oliver as respite.