Rewarding, enriching and seeing the positive impact of the work you’re doing.

That’s the way Wiltshire Council foster carer Layla describes her role after making the decision to change career a few years ago.

She is sharing her own experiences to support Wiltshire Council’s drive to recruit more foster carers to make a positive difference to a child’s life.

Layla had a successful career working in local government and being involved in systems thinking service improvement as well as work across the police and NHS. She enjoyed it but wanted to do something where she could see more clearly the impact of the work she was doing, and she had been thinking of fostering for some time.

She explained: “We’ve been fostering for more than three years. I do see it as a change in career, but it’s of course more than just a career because children come into our family and become part of our family.

“The ‘work’ elements are the very regular meetings and conversations with professionals, daily diary notes, and in-depth training to maintain registration.  I see myself as one of the professionals supporting the children and young people who live with us. We advocate for them all the time.

“On a personal level it’s giving me and our family what I hoped fostering would bring – we are seeing the changes it makes for the young people we care for. We love seeing a child’s confidence grow and self-belief develop. It also enriches our family life as we’ve learnt about other people and the joys they’ve bought to us. It’s really positive on that front.”

Layla appreciates the support from the supervising social worker and also the training provided. There is support for birth children in the foster carer’s family and events including family days out where carers can connect to other foster carers as well as regular support groups.

Her advice for those considering fostering is to get in touch.  “There are so many different ways you can foster and depending on commitment and family situations there are different options which may work for them.  

“It is always worth having that chat to see what it could look like. It’s extremely rewarding and it’s great as you’re affecting the lives of the people you are caring for, and their families to some degree, and it also enriches your own family life as well. It’s a really positive experience.” 

Foster carers need to be aged 21 and over and have a spare bedroom (or you can use your own bedroom, if you have space for a cot, to foster a baby aged up to twelve months)

You need time to care for a child and a willingness to seek to understand young people who have experienced trauma and loss. Fostering payments are from £400 to £740 a week, per child depending on skills and experience. 

Visit Fostering Home - Fostering with Wiltshire Council for more information or email fostering@wiltshire.gov.uk, call 0800 169 6321 or text the word Foster to 60002.

People can join an online information session on fostering via this Microsoft Teams link. Please download the Teams app to join: Join conversation (microsoft.com)

Dates and times are:

  • Wednesday 18 September 12noon – 1pm
  • Thursday 26 September 6pm – 7pm

There is also chance to speak to fostering team members and foster carers at this event:

  • Five Rivers Leisure Centre Salisbury – Thursday 26 September 3:30pm – 6:30pm