Sylvie, who is married to Franck, quit teaching eight years ago to take up fostering full-time after a distressed young student walked in one Monday morning: “She was pregnant, had a black eye, and had been made homeless. I was pregnant too, at the same crossroads. But I was 33, had a career and a home. And yet I, as a teacher, couldn’t even hug her. My heart ached. I had to do more.”
Eight years later, in addition to their two children Matthieu, 14, and Theo, 11, the couple have opened their home to around 10 foster children through the council’s Fostering Service, which is seeing the number of children requiring a home growing steadily.
“It is the most demanding and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” Sylvie said. “When you see the children grow and blossom under your roof; when you see angry, miserable, tormented children become more balanced, happy, and achieving their full potential – it makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing.
“It also makes me feel very sad that some children are put in these circumstances. But we take them on holidays abroad, we go camping in Devon, we go shopping, to the zoo and the cinema. It can be traumatic, but they learn to make decisions for themselves. It’s beautiful to watch. The changes are amazing.”
One former foster child recently asked Sylvie to be the Godmother to their first child. “They send me pictures constantly”, she said. Another woke up at 6am to bake her a birthday cake.
“I view them as my children,” Sylvie said. “I know they don’t belong to me. I’m quite realistic. They view me as family, but I never claim to be mum.”
She added: “Whatever your background, you can become a foster carer. It is not a box-ticking exercise. There are no stereotypes. It’s just the generosity of your soul.”