Bristol Live has teamed up with Bristol City Council to launch the ‘Looking after Bristol’ appeal which aims to find Bristol’s next 70 foster carers.
There are currently 291 foster carers in the city providing placements for 614 children and young people in Bristol.
To mark Black History Month we have spoken to foster carers from the BAME community about why it’s so important that the diversity of the city and its young people is reflected in the fostering community.
Here is what foster carers Angela, Yusuuf and Zahra had to say.
Bristol is a diverse city with many different cultures, ethnicities and faiths - it’s a vast melting pot of people from different walks of life.
So equally the children who come into foster care are just as diverse as the city’s population.
But unfortunately these different cultures, ethnicities and faiths are hugely underrepresented in Bristol’s foster carer community.
This majority of the city’s foster carers are white British, and there are only two Muslim fostering families who work for Bristol City Council – one of which is married couple Yusuuf and Zahra (not their real names).
It is hoped this campaign to find 70 new foster carers for the city will also result in a much more diverse community of people who can look after some of the city’s most vulnerable children and young people.
We know children and young people would be best placed in a family where their needs are met.
For example, there will be food that they recognise, as well as cultural and religious practices that will be normal to them.
And then there is the importance of allowing these young people to have a connection with their heritage - whatever that may be.
For 54-year-old foster carer Angela this has always been something she has tried to do with all 16 of the children she has fostered since becoming a carer in 2014.
"I work hard to make sure the young people I look after stay connected with their own culture, even if it's distant from my own,” explained Angela, who is currently looking after two young people alongside two birth children who were still living at home when the placements started.
"There are many times where I've stayed up until the early hours of the morning looking for recipes, national dress they can wear for their school's international day - I buy little badges for the children I look after with flags on them that represent their background.
"One young person I look after is half-Filipino for example, so I bought a badge with overlapping British and Filipino flags so she feels represented.
“I would never want any child I look after to feel as though they were outside their community - that connection is so important to maintain.
"As someone from a minority background I do feel as though it’s easier to understand the children who are also from BAME communities - although I think any child can flourish in a supportive, loving environment.
“But having that insight is a bonus because it's something you've actually lived through and can understand at the most basic level.
"We have a brilliant support group for foster carers who look after BAME children who I meet with, and it's just a space where we can talk through the practicalities of raising a child from a minority background without feeling judged.
"We cover everything really - from in depth discussions about how to cope with the complex situations you face while fostering, to how to style a child's hair when it's of a completely different texture - and there's a Whatsapp group we can chat in pretty much 24 hours a day.
"It's brilliant to have that kind of support, I've met some amazing people through fostering and you really do feel as though you're never alone. To me, it's the best job in the world."
Angela’s journey into fostering began more than 20 years ago alongside her late husband, with the couple going through their assessments before Angela fell pregnant with her daughter, now in her early twenties.
It was three years on from the death of her husband, who passed away 11 years ago, that she started to think seriously about fostering again after seeing a poster whilst at her job as a school administrator.
She called the number on the poster just hours after seeing it, and within a few days was starting the process of applying to become a foster carer.
Less than a year later, her first two placements arrived at her home.
"I just looked at my own children and thought 'you know what, I've not done too bad a job here'," Angela explained.
"Whatever we had done, it seemed like it had worked, and I started to think that perhaps I could do that for someone else's child who had nowhere else to go.
"So many of these children have been through such trauma and have very little experience of a stable routine, so it's a process of showing care and love through the things most of us take for granted."
For Somali foster carers Yusuuf and Zahra their journey into fostering was a little different.
The couple were foster carers in Holland where they lived before moving to the UK in 2003, they have been working as foster carers for Bristol City Council since 2014.
They said they became aware that there were no Somali foster carers in Bristol and “felt like they needed to take on some of the responsibility”.
“There weren’t any foster carers for my community here in Bristol which is one of the things that made me want to do this,” said Zahra.
“I think it’s extremely important that Somali or Muslim children have the option to be placed with foster carers from their own faith and background.
“For one it just helps the child feel a little more at home and not a complete shock when they arrive at a strangers house.”
Zahra and Yusuuf have four birth children and foster children mainly on a short-term basis which can be up to two years.
“When it comes to Muslim children there are rules around food, such as only eating Halal meat and there are also rules around how you go to the toilet, such as washing the toilet and washing themselves,” added Zahra.
“Just being able to understand these things and it just be a natural thing in that household makes it easier for the child to feel at home.”
The pair have also fostered many non-Muslim children and understand how difficult it can be for a child when they are placed in home and in a culture that maybe seems foreign to them.
Which is why Yusuuf believes that all foster carers should get culture training as part of the process of becoming a foster carer.
So why is it then that there are so few Somali foster carers in Bristol? According to Yusuuf and Zahra it’s because Somali families are often very large and therefore don’t have an extra room free for a child - which is one of the requirements when becoming a foster carer.
“But I would tell anyone who does have the space and would love to make a difference in a child’s life to call the council and sign up,” added Zahra.
“It’s so rewarding and when you see these children begin to dream and have hope for the future all I want to do is encourage that and it’s great.”
If you are interested in becoming a foster carer or just finding out more about the process by calling 0117 3534200 or on the council’s website.
If you would like to see all the latest news from in and around Bristol, you can check back on Bristol Live's homepage.
