Wendy Jenkins is a single mum to her 36-year-old son, a grandma, a foster carer of nearly five years and is in full-time employment.
She has worked full time since her son was 12 years old, and over her career, she has had a range of jobs, all generally within social care roles.
For as long as Wendy can remember, she had always wanted to be a foster carer, however circumstances always prevented her at the time. However, it all changed when her friend who worked within a fostering team, suggested to Wendy about offering respite.
Initially, Wendy joined an independent fostering agency, mainly offering respite for young people over the age of 11 years.
“respite suits my circumstances”
Wendy said: “Due to still working full-time and being heavily involved with my two young grandchildren, offering regular respite suits my circumstances and it means that I can support other foster carers with a much-needed service.
“I love having these young people come over to stay. In one of my roles, I worked with young care leavers so I am aware of how they feel about being in care and how important it is to have the right foster carer who will take the time to listen, offer to find solutions, and give advice about their worries. This often helps them to be more settled in their permanent placement.”
Whilst fostering for an agency, Wendy had a young person placed with her in an emergency on a short-term basis. He stayed with her for approximately three months. During this time, they developed a strong bond.
“He told me that when he was in therapy, he had to choose three people to be on his island. He had chosen me to be there with him.”
Wendy stayed with her agency for four years but made the decision to transfer over to Foster Wales Swansea after not being utilised sufficiently.
why did you decide to transfer to foster wales swansea?
“My initially reasoning for moving to Foster Wales Swansea was mainly because the young person I had on respite was being placed with a Foster Wales Swansea carer. By transferring over to the local authority, it meant I could continue to offer respite to him. Two years later, and lots of pizza and big chats, he is still coming to me on respite and is a big part of our family.”
Many agency foster carers enquire about transferring over to Foster Wales Swansea – the council’s fostering service – but often don’t because they fear that the process of moving over will take too long. In addition, many assume that they will receive lesser payments from the local authority for their foster carer role, which isn’t the case.
what was the process of moving over to foster wales swansea like?
Wendy said: “The process of transferring to Foster Wales Swansea was really easy. All I had to do was to complete the years between joining the private agency and when I signed up with Foster Wales Swansea. As nothing much had changed within my circumstances, the process was much quicker. The benefits of being with Foster Wales Swansea are that the children are local, there are lots of training opportunities, the support groups are local, and we are provided with regular and up-to-date information.
why did you decide to transfer over to your local authority?
The main reason Wendy decided to transfer to her local authority fostering service was because she felt that she wasn’t being utilised enough. However, since joining Foster Wales Swansea, Wendy has been kept busy with respite requests.
Wendy said: “Since joining Foster Wales Swansea in the last year, I have been offered several respite and emergency placements to young people. Lately, I have started a new journey with a young person who has several additional learning needs. He’s been coming one weekend a month since March. The young boy had stayed for a week’s respite, when he just blurted out, ‘I’m going to miss you’ when talking about returning home. This was a very rewarding moment for me. His foster carers tell me he asks when his next visit is and looks forward to coming. I have developed such a good relationship with the young person’s foster carers and we often go to special events altogether to show the young person how much we all value him.”
Wendy doesn’t have any regrets transferring from her agency to Foster Wales Swansea in December 2023.
do you feel that transferring over to foster wales swansea was the right decision?
Wendy said: “I feel transferring over to Foster Wales Swansea has been one of the best things I’ve done, and I wished I had made the move sooner. I have met so many wonderful children with wonderful characters and they’ve brought so much joy into my home. If I have needed support, I have always been able to contact someone within the department for advice and information. I have also been fortunate to have a fantastic supervising social worker, who has provided me with the right level of support that I’ve needed. I would genuinely highly recommend Foster Wales Swansea to anyone and everyone.
the rewards outweigh the challenges
And whilst, fostering can be challenging at times, foster carers will always say that the rewards outweigh the challenges.
Wendy said: “I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart that fostering is one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever done but the rewards are totally amazing. I told a friend who was thinking about becoming a foster carer, not to think about it, just do it! I offered them the Foster Wales Swansea number there and then.”
Can you give children experiences and memories that will last a lifetime?
are you interested in transferring over to foster wales swansea?
As your local authority fostering service, your local council, we are not-for-profit, and we never will be. Our aim is to provide care and stability for our local children, by ensuring we have dedicated and committed foster carers. Our number one priority is the wellbeing and futures of these children that really need our help.
If you’re an agency foster carer and considering transferring over to Foster Wales Swansea, please get in touch here. The team can provide you with information on the transfer process and give you more information about fostering for Foster Wales Swansea, including the support, pay, and training we provide our foster carers.
For agency foster carers who live outside of Swansea, please visit www.fosterwales.gov.wales to find your local authority fostering service.
