‘It’s been a positive experience'
Rachel is 16, has been in care for almost three years and has had a mainly positive experience. Here we ask her about some of her experiences..
I have one sister and five brothers – that’s a lot of brothers! I haven’t been in care that long, but my siblings have been in care a lot longer, so I have always known what care is. My care experience has been pretty good. I feel like my ideas have been listened to about what I would and wouldn’t like to happen to me.
I’m also part of the Hope group which is a group for girls who come from different family settings, including being in care. It raises awareness about care experience, campaigns for change and I get to meet other people who have similar experiences to me.
I don’t have a pathway plan yet, but I think I’ll have one soon. I know that when I’m 18 I’ll probably stay with my current carer, which will be nice. I’ve thought about other options, but I know that I definitely have somewhere to live. I want to go to college, then university and, in the future, I’d like to be doing something with science.
I’m quite good with my money and saving it. Handling my own money allows me to see what is actually happening with my finances, so it’s been a good way to learn budgeting. I don’t have a paid job, but I volunteer at a local charity shop every Saturday.
It’s not as pressurised as a real job and I’ve learnt a lot of skills – how to use a till, how to steam clothes, mental maths, getting confident speaking to people. It’s good for your self-esteem and you get to meet so many people.
To keep positive mental health, I do some walking on the beach. At home, if I feel worried, I try to talk to my carer and that makes me feel a lot better. Listening to music makes me happy – it’s one of my favourite things to do. I like listening to old music from the 60s and 80s, even though not many people of my age like it.
Recently I’ve begun to learn to crochet and then I hope to move on to knitting. It would be cool to just be able to make things.
If I could change one thing about foster care, I’d like social workers to visit foster children more often to see if everything is OK and that they’re being taught all the skills they need for independence.
It’s not enough to just ask if everything is OK, but to actually check and make sure that everything is fine and that all their rights are being met.
I would say to a young person coming into care that it can be nerve wracking, but if you get a carer who matches you then it can be a positive experience. I feel like I’ve been matched well with my carer.
I would say to foster carers to try to make the young person feel at home, listen to what they want and allow them to spend time on their own when they first arrive.
My carers made me feel really comfortable. I remember we went clothes shopping and I got to pick out some new clothes. I was on edge for the first few days, but then it began to calm down and I settled in a bit more.
