Hey, my name is Aimee and I’m 15 and I live in Weston-Super-Mare with my foster carers, Pete and Carol. I’ve been living with Pete and Carol for almost 2 years now, and I’m really happy here – they’ve welcomed me warmly to their family. Pete and Carol have 2 children of their own, but the oldest has moved out, and the younger one, is at university! She comes home during the holidays which I really enjoy.
I’ve been in foster care since I was 10 years old as it wasn’t suitable for me to live with my mum anymore. I have a good relationship with her and we have arranged visits, but I know that she can’t properly look care for me. I have an older brother, Kian, who has just turned 20. Initially, Kian and I lived apart, but he was close by, so we saw each other often. Now, Kian is at university and studying Veterinary Medicine which sounds super interesting.
Since living with Carol and Pete, we’ve found a routine that really works for us – sometimes it might not go to plan as sometimes I might stay on at school for revision, or on the weekends, I like to hang out with my friends from dance – but most of the time, it works great. Our evenings are quite relaxed at the moment as my netball club has stopped for the year. On the weekends, we usually have a day planned out, but sometimes I like to do things with my friends, but Carol and Pete don’t mind, as long as I keep them posted.
In my year at school, I think I’m the only kid who lives with foster carers, so people always ask me what it’s like. It used to annoy me when people would ask, but now I don’t really mind because I know it’s because they just don’t know. It’s sometimes hard to explain but I think it’s like living with grandparents – They know and love you like family, but they don’t try to be your mum. That’s the way I like it but I know other kids in foster care who have lived with their foster carers forever so it’s just normal to them!
As I get older, I’m starting to think more about what I want to do. I don’t think I want to go to uni like Kian, but I would like to maybe do an apprenticeship in childcare or something like that. When I’m older, I’d like to foster like Carol and Pete as I know how much of a difference they’ve made to my life!