Transcript for the Cheshire East Fostering and Adoption Film:
We Did it. Could You?
GRAPHICS
In May we filmed foster carers and adopters from Cheshire East .
They shared their experiences their feelings and their
joy.
MARY ANNE AND ANDREW
You go first …
MARY ANNE
My name is Mary Anne and this is my husband
Andrew.
ANDREW
And we are adopters.
BARBARA
Two years ago we adopted a little boy and a little
girl. It has been the best thing we’ve ever done.
PAUL
Absolutely…
BARBARA
Really, they are fantastic and annoying and
loud…
PAUL
Very loud…
BARBARA
Just wonderful.
MARY ANN
How does it make me feel? It makes me feel complete.
Felt as if I was sort of lost and I needed something and that
something was children. And when we came to it they asked us – and
how many would you like? And I said oh it’s got to be two and
Andrew went are you sure? And I said yes.
ROBIN
I’m adopting with my partner Paul and we’re fairly new
into the process. We’ve just done parenting classes but the key
thing for me was meeting other adopters and foster carers and at
the end of the course seeing some cards of real life children who
needed adoption because that brought it all together
really.
BARBARA
We would never at the beginning have looked at our
little boy because he had issues and problems and I’m so glad that
we looked beyond that because he’s been a blessing.
PAUL
He has yeah.
ANDREW
When we met them on the first day we walked in to the
living room and heard giggles and looked around and behind the sofa
these two little girls hiding behind the sofa in hysterics and they
wanted to see us before we saw them and at that point they started
calling us mummy and daddy.
MARY ANNE
I had to go and blow my nose because it was just so
much to take in that these two precious little things were just
wonderful.
PAUL
When he first came to us he didn’t really have any
strong emotions he just used to put his arms on you rather than hug
you but now he really hugs you tight until he shakes and that’s
really fantastic and it makes you feel really good.
BARBARA
It’s been the best thing we’ve ever done, wouldn’t
change it, wouldn’t swap and certainly wouldn’t go back to being
without them, I can’t imagine my life without them, I don’t know
what I’d do.
ANDREW
Here you go.
MARY ANNE
You’ve got it somewhere.
Fade to black
DAVID
My name’s David.
YVONNE
And my name’s Yvonne.
DAVID
We’ve been fostering for around twelve years and we
foster because we really want to make a difference in young
people’s lives.
YVONNE
When you see a little child who’s come from where he’s
unhappy and you’ve put positives in that child’s life and they
return home or they go off somewhere else it just makes your job
worthwhile doing.
ADA
We get so much support, we get so much help, we get as
much help and support as we want so it’s not actually rammed down
our throats but we only have to pick up a phone if we have a
problem.
DAVID
Our sons and our daughters interact with the kids and
it does make a difference in their lives too, it shows them that
there is needy children out there and it’s helped them to learn
compassion and support and understanding. But for us the reason we
do fostering is because a) there’s a need and b) because we get a
lot out of it ourselves knowing that we have really transformed or
seen a life transformed and saved from a life of crime and all the
sort of issues that some of the kids that we have interacted over
the years.
MICHELLE
I think fostering is a brilliant thing to do, I think
we’ve been really lucky, we’ve met some fabulous people and some
wonderful children and families and I would recommend it to almost
anybody.
JEFF
I was fostered from the age of 12. It was a great part
of my life I wouldn’t change it, it’s given me the chance and the
opportunities of who I am. I’m very lucky I’ve got 2 families now
rather than just 1. It’s a really positive time to me and I hope
that other people can see this and that they can gain the positive
experiences I had.
Fade to black
CLAIRE
I’m Claire and I’m a short break foster
carer.
BETH
I’m Beth
CLAIRE
Who are you?
BETH
I’m the daughter of the foster
carer.
CLAIRE
I offer short breaks for children with disabilities and
I’m able to give the parents a break and the children somewhere fun
come to.
DENISE
These are usually youngsters with profound difficulties
and they come for very short periods of time, over nights stays
with us and sometimes we have them for a week at a time so the
parents and all the other siblings can go and have a holiday they
otherwise wouldn’t normally have.
ROSE
Often it’s – oh for goodness sake all I need is a
break, please take my child away…
PETE
Haven’t slept in two days…
ROSE
And then they realise after a couple of nights actually
I do love this child really very much and I want this child back so
of course we take the child back and there’s usually a rested
parent.
CARINA
I have a daughter Charlie who’s 16 and she never really slept
away from home until she was about 11 and then she started going to
short break foster care with a couple called Denise and Ray. I
rebuked it for so long and I was – no I can manage, I can manage
but you can only manage for so long just because it’s demanding you
know.
In a perfect world she would be able to spend more and more time
with Denise to extend the fluency that she’s got from two nights,
we know she can do two nights and she’s not upset or anything so to
maybe do three or four nights until eventually she doesn’t even
need me anymore and when I’m gone it won’t have a massive impact on
her but the resources aren’t there that’s the bottom line, there
isn’t enough people like Denise and Denise is in demand so much
that there isn’t the availability that we need to do that so I
don’t know where we go from there, I don’t know how we make that
jump from a couple of days to three or four days. Sorry.
CLAIRE
Everybody gains from short break disability. The
siblings are just thankful for having the opportunity to have time
with mum and dad. You can see it in the children that come to me,
you can see that they enjoy coming. It’s a win, win situation it
really is.
ROSE
I think it’s the best job I’ve ever done and you do it
at home.
PETE
Yes and I’m married to the boss which you know it’s not
bad is it.
ROSE
You’re not in the rat race that’s a big
thing.
PETE
No you’re not in a rat race, you’re certainly not in
the rat race and it gives you a different perspective on
life.
ROSE
It’s tiring it is exhausting.
PETE
It’s not easy, it’s not easy but yes people can do it,
people do do it and people do get a great deal from it and they do
make a difference, that sounds very clichéd I know but they do make
a difference.
DENISE
It’s just that feeling that there’s this child who has
such a lot of difficulties and then suddenly they’re responding to
you as a person, it’s a wonderful feeling that you’re actually
making a difference to this young person’s life. If you’ve got that
feeling you want to do it go for it there’s nothing better, nothing
better than giving something back.
RAY
You’ve talked me in to it I’ll sign up on the way
out.
CARINA
Please do there’s so many children come through the
system now and so many families that obviously need this help
that… Oh god you’d just be doing a wonderful ,wonderful thing
and the families that you would be involved with would be so
grateful, definitely.
GRAPHICS
Adopters and foster carers can be
- Full-time
- Part-time
- Married
- Single
- Partners
- Gay or lesbian
- Parents
- Retired
You ?
Cheshire East Council have children waiting to be adopted or
fostered
Telephone: 0300 123 3223
