'The world opened up to me thanks to my foster carers'

A man who said his foster carers helped open up the world to him is urging other people to consider the role amid a crisis in support for vulnerable children.

Councils across the south west of England have launched their annual recruitment drive for foster carers. They say the overall numbers of people willing to take in a child have been falling as demand grows.

Two adults who grew up in care in Wiltshire have been speaking out about their experiences to raise awareness.

Natasha Robbins urged people to "see our potential", while Cameron Draisey said his foster placement "made me who I am today".

Ms Robbins said her foster parents helped open up the world to her.

"Obviously at the time that's not what it felt like, when they said 'you're going into care', I [said] 'well, I don't want to, you're not going to make me'," she added.

Before being taken to her new foster family, she had been caring for an elderly relative, rarely attending school, and was often out late at night in her early teens.

"I'm feeling lucky and grateful, my foster carers could have gone 'she's just too much we can't deal with her', but actually they saw my potential," she said.

Mr Draisey recalls feeling "very reluctant" on his first day in care, having lived with his biological family for the first 14 years, but says he later "recognised that support was needed".

"It was such a positive experience being in care, that one long term placement, I think its made me who I am today.

"I may have been quite challenging when I first went into care", he recalls, "but what you invest you do get out lots of positive experiences in the long term."

Both Ms Robbins and Mr Draisey have joined Wiltshire Council's young voice participation service to help other families.

Both are still close to their foster families as adults, and hope sharing their stories persuades others to think about fostering - because councils urgently need more foster families.

Across England the number of foster households has fallen by nearly 2,000 since 2021, from about 44,600 to 42,615 in 2024.

"The crisis is because so many children and young people still need foster carers," said Sarah Thomas, the chief executive of the Fostering Network charity.

The number of children needing to be looked after has increased by 30% since 2010, with about 83,630 children in care in 2024.

Ms Thomas said the solution is not simply about recruiting more foster carers, but "by ensuring better prevention and less likelihood of things coming to a crisis point, which comes back to investment in the social care system across the board".

Meanwhile, Wiltshire Council's social worker Rachel Pearce said the complexity of behaviours and trauma of some cases nowadays is "so much higher than I have ever seen"

"The foster carers have got such a job to provide that consistency, that nurture, patience and understanding," she said.

In Codford near Warminster, foster carer Selina Kirkbride has looked after a total of eight children since 2017.

"I hold my hands up, there has been a couple of times when I've been thinking 'can I keep doing this', we've had some challenging times, but the support we've had has been amazing.

"To have the connection with them afterwards, to see how they're thriving and watching them grow, it's like we've got a big family," she said.

Fostering is open to single people, couples, those with children, renters and homeowners.

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