Mick & Bebe's Blog

“Just because I’m a foster child, doesn’t mean I can’t achieve everything I want.”

Bebe’s foster parents saw a spark in her running ability, now she’s competing as an international T44 para-athlete

“I’m Bebe, I’m 17 years-old and I’ve lived with my foster parents Mick and Pauline Davis since I was 11.

“I compete in 100m, 200m, long-jump and discus. It feels like I belong here on the track, I love the adrenaline and that feeling when I’m ahead, I always say to myself ‘don’t slow down, just keep running!’. It’s a real community feeling, like another family.

“In a year’s time I hope to be Commonwealth Youth Champion, then onto the 2028 Paralympic Games. I’ve got many dreams, I also want to inspire other people with my journey and to show them that anything is possible.”

“You always get told as a child, as a foster care child especially, ‘oh you can’t do anything because you’ve had a hard life’, but I think their opinions are irrelevant. It’s more about how I feel about myself and what success looks like for me, when I win that gold medal for example.

“Just because I’m a foster child doesn’t mean that I can’t achieve everything that I want. There’s often a stereotype. Mick and Pauline have really encouraged me, they were the first to see my potential as a para-athlete and they’ve been my biggest supporters ever since.

“I would say, to anyone thinking of taking on a foster child, that if you think you can make a person’s life better, then why don’t you do it!”

Foster carer Mick Davis shares his experience of welcoming Bebe into their home.

“I’ve been fostering for about 11 years now with my wife Pauline. Before fostering, we had supported children in Romanian orphanages, and then we thought it would be good to look closer to home.

“When we first met Bebe at 11 years-old, she was a really exuberant character, she spoke her mind. My wife and I knew from day one that she would be the right girl for us.

“Bebe was born with clubfoot and she had numerous operations when she was younger. We’re lucky to have a close relationship with Bebe’s birth family so we knew about her life before she came to us, that’s been important, so we were all involved from the start.

“I remember I first saw the athletic spark in Bebe at a school Sports Day, she asked me to come along and I just watched her run the race with the whole crowd chanting her name behind her. She won it so easily! Then she went on to compete against able-bodied runners across the county and we just encouraged her all the way, we’ve been along the side lines at every race cheering her on.

“The biggest thing we can give any child is confidence and that’s been really important with Bebe. From the day I first saw her running, I’ve been researching competitions and finding opportunities for her to reach her full potential. I helped her to get classified as T44 with Team GB, it took about 10 months to learn all about para sport and it’s something that I’d love to help more disabled children get in to.

“As well as sport, she’s very academically bright and we’ve pushed her to achieve well in her GCSE’s, now she’s studying A Levels and aims to go to university to study Midwifery.

“Bebe has always been a very independent girl and, as she’s grown up, she’s very single-minded, she knows exactly what she wants for the future and what she wants to get out of life.

“We’re just magnificently proud of her. It actually frustrates Bebe as I just want to tell everybody how proud I am of what she’s achieved so far!

To find out more about fostering you can attend one of the online information events where you can speak with the team and foster carers and ask any questions you may have.