Features / fostering
‘We need foster carers from all walks of life’
A fundamental belief that every child has the right to a childhood in a family setting is the driving force behind Nasareen Ahmed’s work.
The founder and director of Amicus Foster Care launched her own agency with a desire to do things differently and help all young people – no matter what their background – have the best possible start in life.
Sitting sipping a cup of tea in St Werburgh’s Community Centre, the organisation’s HQ, Nas admits that she has rarely spoken out about the work she does, but with Bristol facing a chronic shortage of foster carers, it is vital to highlight the difference fostering can make to a child’s life.
is needed now More than ever
Reflecting on what inspired her career in social care, Nas says: “My parents, and their values and beliefs, inspired me. They were first generation immigrants from Pakistan and they worked hard to make sure we had a better standard of education.
“My first choice would have been to join the police, but I was too short. Social care felt right because I wanted to make changes.”
Nas worked in the public and independent sector, but seeing changes afoot in local authorities, she thought there is scope to do things differently and launched Amicus nine years ago from her kitchen table.
Nas fights for siblings to stay together in foster care. Photo from the Amicus Facebook page.
“I always knew I wanted Amicus to be small so that every child knows the foster carers. Each child’s needs and families are going to be different.
“It was about creating a service that was tailor made and an agency that could think outside the box. It’s important that the children learn values and give back to the community, so they feel part of the community and part of a wider family.
“There is a need to recruit foster families from all walks of life because we have children from all walks of life and that has not changed – that need is still there. Amicus has never been very good at telling our story, but unless we do, we won’t get the foster carers we need.”
Amicus is the only Makaton-accredited fostering agency in the UK. This is a way of communicating by using signs and symbols, rather than spoken language and can help children with disabilities or past trauma. It can also help with safeguarding and inclusion, to ensure that communication need not be a barrier.
The agency also puts a huge emphasis on supporting foster carers, as well as the children.
“We have a holiday home in Pembrokeshire so all our foster carers and children have access to that. For some, that’s the first time that they have been to the beach,” continues Nas.
“Every year, we still feel inspired and excited. Just to see a child achieve – whether that’s learning how to use a knife and fork, or going to university – they are all celebrated. We still build the bridge with the birth family and we put up pictures in their homes. It’s important for the kids to have that contact.”
Most of the children with Amicus are in long term foster care, and many continue coming back even once they reach the age of 18 – spending Christmas and holidays with their foster carers.
“You cannot just cut kids off at the age of 18 but the system does. We have the attitude of ‘let’s make it happen’ rather than ‘we can’t make it happen’,” confirms Nas.
Amicus, like the public sector, is looking to recruit foster carers and wants to bust the myth that these must be a traditional family unit.
Individuals, couples and families, of any sexual orientation and from all backgrounds are sought to give homes to some of the city’s most vulnerable young people.
“It’s just about having the time and energy and a bedroom,” says Nas.”
“It’s about wanting to do the right thing for children and offering a home from home. It’s not the sort of thing you do for the money. In financially rewarding it, we are opening up to people from all backgrounds.”
Find out more about fostering with Amicus by visiting www.amicusfostercare.com.
For more information about fostering in general, visit: www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk.
Read more: Support and council tax exemption for Bristol’s care leavers
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