Stirling couple back recruitment event for foster carers after almost 30 years of opening their home
22.03.2023 - 20:29
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A Stirling couple who are retiring as foster carers after 28 years are encouraging others to offer safe, nurturing homes to children and young people.
A recruitment event to attract new foster carers is being hosted by Stirling Council at the Raploch Campus on Tuesday, March 28.
Foster carers come from a wide variety of backgrounds, but are united by love and empathy and a desire to better the lives of children and young people who cannot be cared for by their families.
Lynn Findlater and her husband Will, from Cornton, became foster parents in 1995 and helped over 40 children and young people before their retirement earlier this month.
Lynn said: “One of the good things about fostering is it felt like we got the chance to make a change.
“Some of the young people who were most impacted by their earliest experiences at home are now very successful and running their own businesses. Being able to include them in our family and build up relationships worked well for us and the children.
“People usually say to me they couldn’t do it, that I must be an amazing person and have the patience of a saint. I am neither of those things, but I just really care about helping kids who have had to face some of the most difficult times in their short lives.
“Fostering is not the easiest thing I’ve ever done, but there is support and training available. If it’s right for you, you will enjoy it. Caring for the kids has been my life.”
Lynn first thought of fostering when her husband came home with a leaflet called ‘Time for a Teenager’ from his work as in a printing department.
“I thought I would like to do that, although the timing was not quite right for us. We were living in Alloa and I felt at the time that we did not have enough space. I had two