Foster families in Norfolk and Suffolk take centre stage with a new documentary by Adam Buxton being launched today.
Adam approaches the experience without prior knowledge of fostering or caring for looked-after children. The film looks at everyday moments rather than formal interviews.
Conversations take place over cups of tea, while emptying the dishwasher, playing Top Trumps, walking the dog and kicking a football around the garden. These settings allow Adam to ask the kinds of questions people often raise when they first consider fostering, a central theme of the local authority fostering documentary.
The full documentary is available to view at www.fostereast.org.uk
Reflecting on the experience, Adam Buxton said, “I didn’t really know very much about fostering before I spent time with Gary, Shannon and Catherine. We’ve got 3 children and a dog at home, and the thought of adding another child or more children into our family life blows my mind.
“What they do, for kids who haven’t asked to be brought into care, amazes me. And Shannon’s reflections as a young person who has helped her parents to foster were just incredible. I’m full of admiration and respect for them and their families.”
One of the families featured in the local authority fostering documentary is Catherine, a Norfolk library book scheme co-ordinator, her husband Sean and their two children. They have been fostering for six years.
Although they initially intended to foster on a short-term basis, they later became long-term foster parents. During Adam’s visit, conversation unfolds amid games of Top Trumps and repairs to a Minecraft sword. When asked why they foster, Catherine gestures around the lounge and explains that they are giving a child a chance.
The second family includes Gary, a former logistics manager who now works in a factory, his wife and their two daughters. They have fostered for their local authority for 12 years. Their experience has mainly involved short-term fostering, alongside caring for a young girl with disabilities over a longer period. In the film, Gary becomes emotional when Adam asks why they foster, replying tearfully that they do it to give children a childhood.
The documentary also includes comments from Norfolk County Council. Cllr Penny Carpenter, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “Fostering is an essential role that we need more people to fulfil. In Norfolk, we urgently need to recruit an additional 50 foster carers. As Norfolk foster carer Sean says, ‘if you’re living family life anyway, could you add in another child?’
“I urge more families to talk about fostering and if fostering could fit into their everyday life.”
